A Nashville Courthouse arsonist’s sentencing has been postponed for the third time.
Wesley Somers of Hendersonville, an arsonist who has pled guilty in connection with the May 2020 Metro Nashville Courthouse fire and riot, was scheduled to be sentenced for his crime on Tuesday.
Somers’ original sentencing date, December 1, 2021, had been moved to January 18, 2022, then to Tuesday, and is now scheduled for March 8.
The Middle District of Tennessee Clerk’s Office told The Tennessee Star that there was an order signed on February 17 that “reset the sentencing to March 8.” Somers will be sentenced by Judge Aleta Trauger.
The Star previously reported that the January 18 postponement occurred after Somers’ defense counsel made an unopposed motion to postpone the January hearing and the motion was granted. The reason for the latest postponement is unclear.
The last motion to postpone was made because Somers’ defense counsel, R. David Baker, felt he needed more time to prepare for the sentencing hearing in light of the information contained in the pre-sentence report, which included an enhancement to the offense level. The issue of what “an enhancement to the offense level” refers to is unclear, but that information is expected to come to light when a sentencing hearing does occur.
Defense counsel plans to call Dr. Kimberly Brown as a witness at the upcoming sentencing hearing in order to discuss a psychological evaluation of Somers.
Somers was arrested and charged due to identifying evidence that was found on various social media and other websites. The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated at the time, “Numerous video clips and photographs of the destruction at the Courthouse were posted on social media websites, on the websites for news outlets, and on other Internet sites. Somers is depicted in video clips and photographs from that evening attempting to smash windows of the Courthouse. One photograph depicted Somers holding an unknown accelerant, which had been set on fire, and placing the accelerant through the window of the Courthouse.”
Another individual like Somers, Shelby Ligons of Nashville, pled guilty to the same federal charge of Malicious Destruction of Property Using Fire or Explosives and was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison. Additional conditions included three years of supervised release upon the completion of the term of imprisonment, restitution in the amount of $500, and a fee of $100.
It remains unclear if Ligons’ sentencing will have any bearing on or similarity to Somers’. What is clear is that Ligons’ sentencing was not postponed the same amount of times that Somers’ sentencing has been.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
