A Pennsylvania woman is really in the thick of it after admitting to intentionally setting fire to her campground home.
Tamara Santarelli, 42, and her husband, Victor Santarelli III, 44, bought Shady Rest Campground from Arnold and Mary Alice Manning in 2007. That same year (following the purchase), the bath house on the campgrounds went up in smoke.
In 2009, just two years after the bath house burned down, the couple's campground home caught fire, igniting an investigation surrounding the events. The investigation led to the couple's arrest, and a trial in Susquehanna County Court.
Authorities charged Victor with arson, conspiracy, and insurance fraud in connection with the 2007 fire, but all of his charges were dropped. The court is holding Tamara to the fire though, and she has pled guilty to one count of arson for the residence fire, and one count of recklessly endangering another person in the bath house fire.
Tamara hasn't been sentenced as of yet, but the couple isn't out of the woods. According to court documents, the Santarellis had some financial troubles. The couple has agreed to release all of the bath house insurance money that was being held in an escrow account to the Mannings as restitution. They also agreed to execute a deed in lieu of foreclosure to the Mannings in an effort to resolve a pending mortgage foreclosure between the two couples.
Tamara faces s'more time in court later this year to resolve issues concerning insurance proceeds from the fire at the residence, and she could face jail time for her criminal actions in the great outdoors.
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