Former Hector, Minnesota, man sentenced to 5 years for arson despite prosecutor objection

OLIVIA — A former Hector, Minnesota, man was sentenced to 60 months in prison for burning down his own house. The judge granted a request for a lesser sentence over the objection of the prosecutor.

Contributed / Minnesota Department of Corrections

Chad Allen Dobel, 45, recently of Maynard, entered an Alford guilty plea in December in Renville County District Court to a felony charge of first-degree arson and one misdemeanor count of violating a no-contact order. In exchange for his plea, a misdemeanor charge of domestic assault was dismissed.

Alford pleas — entered when a defendant maintains their innocence but agrees a guilty verdict is likely based on the evidence — are treated as any other guilty plea and do not have any impact on sentence.

Judge Laurence Stratton in February sentenced Dobel to serve 60 months in prison with credit for 15 days already served.

According to a memo from Renville County Attorney Kelsie Kingstrom, in Dobel's case the presumptive sentence under state guidelines is 88 months.

Stratton granted a mitigated sentence, also called a downward departure, finding the crime was less onerous than usual and noting in the departure report that Dobel had burned down his own residence and that there was no evidence of insurance fraud or other criminal reasons for the arson.

Prior to sentencing, Kingstrom filed an 11-page memo objecting to Dobel's request for a departure, plus several more pages of supporting material. The memo cited Dobel's previous criminal history, which includes two felony convictions in 2016 for third-degree burglary and receiving stolen property.

Kingstrom also argued in the memo that Dobel had shown a pattern of behaviors deflecting responsibility, and she challenged his expressions of remorse.

"Mr. Dobel is not outright pleading guilty, but agrees that a jury would find him guilty," the memo reads.

Dobel was incarcerated at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud on Feb. 14. According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, his expected release date is June 1, 2027.

According to the criminal complaint in the case, law enforcement responded to a report of a house fire on June 5, 2023, in the 400 block of Third Street West in Hector.

The reporting party told law enforcement that Dobel had started the residence on fire because an unnamed female victim had refused to stay with him, according to the complaint. The reporting party also said Dobel was on the phone with the woman.

The complaint states there was an active no-contact order at the time, prohibiting Dobel from having contact with her.

As firefighters were on the scene, a sheriff's deputy learned that Dobel had been messaging the woman and had struck her across the face two days prior, according to the complaint.

Dobel allegedly told officers at the scene that the fire was caused by a gas generator tipping over as he was smoking a cigarette.

Brian Petersen of the Minnesota Fire Marsahal’s Office found that Dobel’s story of spilling gas from a generator did not match with evidence at the scene, according to the prosecution memo.

Petersen stated the origin of the fire appeared to be a southeast bedroom. According to Petersen, the generator was found in the hallway of the home and was “in perfect working condition,” the memo states.

Other witnesses at the scene reported seeing Dobel on the phone prior to law enforcement’s arrival, according to the complaint. The witnesses stated Dobel was making loud noises, banging and slamming doors, hollering and was allegedly heard stating “I did it because you wouldn’t talk to me,” and “I can’t put it out now, it’s on fire.”