OTTAWA COUNTY, Okla. — Two men were sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday for setting a fellow inmate on fire in Ottawa County Jail.
Justin Randall Gering, 30, of Fairland, and Tyler Levi Tavis, 23, of Miami were sentenced for arson of property of an institution and organization receiving federal financial assistance. The judge sentenced both men to five years in prison followed by one year of supervised release, the Office of U.S. Attorney Clinton J. Johnson announced.
According to court records, Tavis and Gering were caught on video surveillance in Ottawa County Jail wrapping a sleeping inmate in toilet paper and setting it on fire in December of 2022.
Court records said the sleeping inmate was covered by a county issued fire-retardant blanket, which kept him from being severely burned. Other inmates at the jail responded quickly to put the fire out which kept it from spreading further in the jail.
Gering and Tavis will remain in custody pending transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, the announcement said.
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