Jason Pohl

The man who, in December, took a butane torch and set several fires inside a Fort Collins sign-making business, causing it to burn to the ground and cause more than $1 million in damages, was sentenced on Wednesday to serve the next 14 years in prison.

Keith Edgar Lubaski, 35, was arrested Dec. 26 after an officer saw him driving a Toyota that was stolen near Signs Now, 1428 Riverside Ave., where firefighters fought a suspicious early-morning blaze that sent flames through the roof. Investigators said he ran from police, and a cigarette butt and shoe prints led to Lubaski's arrest in connection with a series of burglaries in the area.

Lubaski in March pleaded guilty to felony first-degree arson, criminal mischief and criminal trespass. The maximum sentence he faced was 15 years as part of that guilty plea, and investigators also linked him to another count of criminal trespass in the area dating back to October. He also pleaded guilty on Wednesday to that count, and the two-year sentence will be served at the same time.

"It was elaborate, the way you went about starting (the fire)," 8th Judicial District Judge Daniel Kaup told Lubaski during his sentencing remarks. He cited the arson count as "extremely aggravated" given the circumstances and said Lubaski had multiple other chances during the past 15 years to remedy his reckless behavior.

Prosecutors outlined Lubaski's lengthy rap sheet that includes almost annual cases of being jailed for assault and DUI, among other crimes, in Michigan before he moved to Colorado. In each of those, he served a probation term or was fined, giving him a chance to seek treatment and get things back on track, prosecutors said.

"I am deeply ashamed by my behavior," Lubaski read to the court in a prepared statement. A self-described alcoholic, Lubaski said he had worked hard to pull himself out of the world of substance abuse and had started his own business and was being a productive member of society.

Besides his public defender and the district attorney's office, nobody else addressed the court on his behalf.

"I was proud of my achievements," Lubaski told the judge. "Unfortunately, I became complacent. I fully succumbed again to my alcoholism...I will always have to live with the destruction my drinking as caused."

Jason Pohl is the Coloradoan's breaking news reporter. Follow him on Twitter: @pohl_jason.