A transient woman charged with arson in a fire that damaged the Taoist Temple Museum in China Alley in May 2021, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for setting the fire and unrelated crimes.
Maxine Montenegro, who pleaded no contest, was sentenced on Jan. 6 and ordered by the court to pay restitution in the amount of $120,767.07.
Kings County Deputy District Attorney Jay Finnecy said the maximum sentence in Montenegro’s case would be 13 years, and that he rarely saw sentences reach nine years in cases which did not involve a firearm or violence.
Under California law, sentencing for felony crimes like arson falls into three tiers: upper, middle and lower. The lower term Montenegro received means that her sentencing would carry the least time in prison of the three. Finnecy said that he rarely sees cases reach the upper tier.
“We secured a settlement of nine years,” Finnecy said. “It’s very difficult to get the maximum on a case in any event, and this resolution was reached before preliminary hearing. Getting nine years on a max of 13 is pretty good, any day of the week.”
Arianne Wing, president of the China Alley Preservation Society, said she wanted more from the sentencing, however, and that the Society had asked the court for the highest sentence for Montenegro. Wing said that many of the artifacts destroyed by the fire are gone forever and that the temple was a crucial part of China Alley.
“An integral part of it [China Alley] is missing right now, and that’s why the sentencing was so mild to me,” Wing said. “She nearly destroyed a rare, historic landmark, and we just shook our heads in disbelief. It’s just really disappointing.”
Finnecy understands why victims want the maximum penalty but said that achieving 70% of the maximum before even reaching a preliminary hearing was a great settlement for a case in which nobody was hurt. Finnecy said that risks involved with going to trial included potential mistrials and acquittals.
“We can’t always get to the maximum,” Finnecy said. “As prosecutors, who are in court every single day, who know the judges, the kind of sentences that are actually happening, we try to fashion a sentence in consideration of the defendant’s criminal history, the facts of the case itself, any potential proof problems and what we think is an appropriate sentence.”
Wing said the fire has left a "gaping hole," and that while the structure of the temple museum itself remains stable, even undamaged artifacts must be handled carefully due to the large amount of smoke during the fire.
“We haven’t been able to have our moon festival,” Wing said. “Of course, during COVID we couldn’t and without a restored temple it’s hard to put together. It’s the main attraction. And so to me, the arson left a gaping hole in the community for now.”
For Wing, the arson in China Alley has endangered part of Hanford’s history.
“China Alley was Chinatown and was established before Hanford was incorporated,” Wing said. “China Alley is what’s left of Hanford’s early Chinatown. Hanford’s history is an immigrant’s history, it was Chinese-Americans’ history.”
Wing said the financial damage to the temple caused by the fire amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Finnecy said that the amount of restitution owed to victims could be adjusted at later times, but that Montenegro was unlikely to be able to come up with the money.
The China Alley Preservation Society is accepting donations at their website, chinaalley.com.
