25 years in prison for Mason City man who pleaded guilty to arson, meth charges

MASON CITY — It’s 25 years in prison for a Mason City man who pleaded guilty to arson and drug charges.

39-year-old Zachary Sankey was arrested after five different fire calls within a two-hour span on the morning of February 28th to: a garage fire at 324 South Kentucky; a brush fire at the intersection of Birch Drive and North Rhode Island; a vehicle fire at Arona Home Essentials at 3701 4th Southwest; a structure fire at Brothers Ace Hardware at 440 South Illinois; and another structure fire at Gracious Estates at 777 South Eisenhower.

Sankey was originally charged with: one count of first-degree arson, a Class B felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison; three counts of second-degree arson, each a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years; as well as one count of second-degree burglary, also a Class C felony.

Sankey as part of a plea agreement pleaded guilty to: one count of second-degree arson in the Brothers Ace Hardware fire; three counts of second-degree arson in the Gracious Estates, 324 South Kentucky and Arona fires; and a separate charge of possession of methamphetamine third offense.

Sankey was sentenced on Monday to ten years in prison on each of the arson charges, with the Gracious Estates, 324 South Kentucky and Arona arson charges being served at the same time but consecutively to the Brothers arson charge. He also received a five-year sentence on the meth charge, which also will be served consecutively after the other charges.