FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Wednesday, November 9, 2016   
CONTACT:  Sara Rabern (605) 773-3215   

 
 
PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Marty Jackley and Campbell County State’s Attorney Mark Kroontje announced that Lori Brandner, age 42, was sentenced yesterday to four (4) years in the State Penitentiary, $104 in Court Costs and $273 in prosecution costs by Circuit Court Judge Scott Myren in Mound City, South Dakota, for her role in the conspiracy to set fire to her Bar and Grill. 
Brandner, who had previously been convicted of Arson, Conspiracy to Commit Arson and Filing a Fraudulent Insurance Claim, in February of 2016, following a jury trial, had been granted a new trial based on improper jury instructions.  On July 11, 2016, in lieu of a new trial, Brandner plead guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Arson, a Class 5 felony, punishable by up to 5 years in the State Penitentiary and/or a $10,000 fine.
The conviction stems from Brandner and three other co-defendants setting fire to the Roadhouse Bar and Grill on Main Street in Herreid, South Dakota, on January 21, 2015, for insurance proceeds.  The fire did extensive damage to the Bar and was extinguished by the Herreid Voluntary Fire Department.  Several weeks after the fire, Brandner and her husband Peter Brandner, who were co-owners of the establishment, submitted a $310,000 insurance claim to Columbia Group Insurance Company for damages related to the fire.  The co-defendants, who have previously pled guilty, were Cheyenne Davis, Ryan Kaelberer and Taylor Armbrust. 
This case was investigated by the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Instigation and prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office and the Campbell County State’s Attorney’s Office.
The Defendant was ordered to immediately surrender herself to the custody of the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office for transport to the South Dakota’s Women’s Prison.
 

-30-