A U.S. Marine was sentenced this week to work furlough and probation after setting multiple fires inside a Gaslamp Quarter restaurant last year.
Lance Corporal Austin Kokin, 21, pleaded guilty in January to felony arson after setting multiple fires at Blue Point Coastal Cuisine five months earlier.
Kokin got into the Market Street restaurant through the back door after working hours and started the fires just after 1:30 a.m.
Even though the restaurant's sprinkler system turned on and put out the flames, the fires caused an estimated $25,000 in damage, police said.
Kokin was blackout drunk on the night of the fires, his attorney said.
He faced up to six years in state prison for the charge but a San Diego judge sentenced him to nine months in a work furlough program and five years of probation.
Kokin's lawyer, Patrick Griffin, said his client was blackout drunk that night.
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At the time, Kokin was assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS) 372, Marine Aircraft Group 39, Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton.
A military spokesperson said Kokin was an active Marine with the squadron as of Thursday, March 7.
