Plea deal expected for Turlock landlord accused of arson

Attorneys appear to have agreed to a plea deal for a landlord accused of starting a fire last summer at a rural Turlock home where his three tenants lived.

George Nazar’s preliminary hearing was scheduled to begin this week, but it was canceled Friday morning when the attorneys told the judge they had worked out a deal expected to become official Aug. 6.

Robert Orenstein, Nazar’s defense attorney, told the judge that Nazar will return to court for the August pretrial hearing and is expected to enter a new plea after prosecutors have amended a criminal complaint against the defendant.

Nazar, 51, initially was charged with three counts of attempted murder, along with one count of arson in connection with the blaze, which destroyed a travel trailer and a nearby outbuilding. The tenants, who were not injured in the fire, called for help.

Deputy District Attorney Sam Getrich said the attempted murder charges will be dropped, because there was insufficient evidence to prove those charges in court beyond a reasonable doubt. The amended complaint will include only one count of arson of an inhabited structure.

The prosecutor told the judge that Nazar will be ordered to pay restitution to his former tenants as part of his sentence. Getrich said in court that he has informed the former tenants of the proposed plea deal, and that they are satisfied with the resolution in the case.

The attorneys in court did not discuss any further details about the proposed sentence for Nazar, including whether he will serve any time behind bars. He remains free on bail pending the conclusion of his case.

The fire occurred July 27 in the 400 block of North Verduga Road, just east of Turlock. The criminal complaint against Nazar, filed days after the blaze, lists Richard Koontz, Brenda Bessey and Jonathan Koontz as victims in the case.

The incident involved a landlord-tenant dispute between Nazar and the people living in the travel trailer on his property. Stanislaus County sheriff’s officials have said the tenants called authorities earlier in the day to report that Nazar had threatened to kick them out and burn down the trailer.

Within minutes of the call, the fire was reported.

As the fire burned the home, Nazar remained holed up inside his nearby home for about an hour until he surrendered to authorities.

This story was originally published June 19, 2015 at 12:47 PM with the headline "Plea deal expected for Turlock landlord accused of arson."