The man who is accused of starting a fire that ended up sparking the deadly and destructive Palisades fire is facing additional charges.
A federal grand jury indicted Jonathan Rinderknecht this week on two additional felonies. He now faces one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and one count of timber set afire, the Department of Justice said.
He was already charged with destruction of property by means of fire, the Los Angeles Times reported.
He was arrested on Oct. 7.
Law enforcement said that Rinderknecht had started a small fire called the Lachman fire, which was put out by firefighters on Jan. 1, but it kept smoldering in dense vegetation and reignited on Jan. 7, whipped up by the Santa Ana winds.
Rinderknecht faces a minimum of five years and up to 45 years in prison if convicted of the federal felony charges, KABC reported. He had been facing 20 years in prison for the initial charge.
Twelve people were killed and 23,400 acres, or 1.5 times the size of Manhattan, were burned. More than 6,800 buildings were destroyed, the Times reported.
Rinderknecht is in federal custody and is expected to be arraigned within the next few weeks in Los Angeles, the DOJ said.
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