Sudbury man sentenced for role in arson that killed three people

A Sudbury man has been sentenced for his role in a fatal townhouse fire in Sudbury, Ont., that killed three people.

Philippe Jeannotte, a 36-year-old carpenter, is one of two men who pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the deadly 2021 fire.

At a hearing Thursday afternoon, Justice Patrick Boucher sentenced Jeannotte to 16 years in prison, receiving 13 years for each death to be served concurrently. He has been in jail since his arrest in April 2021 shortly after the fire and received three years of pre-sentencing credit, which includes a total of 125 days of lockdown while in prison during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has also been ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution to the City of Greater Sudbury for the damages to the geared-to-income units involved in the fire.

Jeannotte is one of five men charged in the April 11, 2021, arson at the city's largest family townhouse complex -- formerly known as Ryan Heights – on Bruce Avenue in the Flour Mill area.

In December 2022, he and one of his co-accused, 36-year-old Jared Herrick, pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter and one count of arson causing bodily harm.

Jeannotte was originally charged with three counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and arson – disregard for human life.

He is the second of the five accused to be sentenced.

Riley Roy, 27, pleaded guilty last fall to attempting to obstruct police. He was originally being charged with conspiracy to commit a break and enter.

Charges against Fernand Bolduc were stayed Sept. 15, 2022, and will be held for a year to give the Crown time to get more evidence, a Sudbury court clerk told CTV News on the phone Thursday.

Herrick has not yet been sentenced.

Another man, Liam Stinson, who is accused of murder in the case, has elected to be tried by jury. No trial dates have been set.

A 26-year-old woman died at the scene, a 50-year-old man and 33-year-old woman succumbed to injuries sustained in the blaze while in hospital and a fourth man escaped by jumping out a second-story window.

About 15 people were evacuated from neighbouring units.

Details about the case can't be reported due to a publication ban.