By KRWG News
El Paso – A Texas man has admitted starting a New Mexico wildfire that burned more than 53,000 acres in the Lincoln National Forest earlier this year.
Rodrigo Ulloa-Esquivel of El Paso pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of leaving a fire unattended in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., on Friday. The U.S. attorney's office in Albuquerque says the 29-year-old faces up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine when he's sentenced.
Two other charges in an indictment were dismissed in the plea deal.
The Last Chance Fire started on April 24 when Ulloa-Esquivel lit toilet paper on fire after relieving himself so he would not leave litter behind. High winds sent sparks into nearby brush and a fire broke out that he and his friends were unable to control.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.