A Brookville, Pa., man has been sentenced to five years probation in connection to an arson fire in Pittsfield in 2024.

Joel Webster, 28, of Brookville had been charged with four counts of arson, reckless burning or exploding and risking catastrophe, all felony offenses, by the State Police at Erie in June 2024. Troopers were dispatched to a “house-trailer” fire at 605 Route 27, Pittsfield Township, on June 25, 2024, around 8 p.m. and allege Webster was one of the occupants of the residence.

He allegedly told troopers that “he set fire to the residence,” according to an affidavit of probable cause. Troopers say they were told by Webster that “he started at the back of the trailer and worked his way toward the front of the trailer, setting objects on fire” before leaving the structure and then reentering it. The affidavit alleges that Webster’s statements were “consistent with on-scene evidence.”

Statements that Webster allegedly made to police, detailed in the affidavit, indicate that mental health issues are likely part of the cause of this incident. In February Webster pleaded guilty to one count of arson – inhabited building or structure, a first-degree felony, with the plea given a mental health designation. The other five felony charges filed against Webster were not prosecuted.

The Court of Common Pleas in Warren County received a report from the Torrance State Hospital in September 2025 regarding Webster’s competency, with the report eventually leading to February’s plea of guilty but mentally ill. The Torrance State Hospital is a public psychiatric hospital funded by the state Department of Human Services through the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services’ Bureau of Community & Hospital Operations. The population of the hospital today is around 300, and the hospital serves those with mental illness from 14 counties in southwestern Pennsylvania.

The court also heard exhibits in support of the plea when it was entered on Feb. 5, according to online court docket information. Judge Todd Woodin presided over the February hearing as well as Webster’s sentencing. The sentence also included a notice to Webster about his ability to own weapons in the future under the federal 1968 Gun Control Act, which expanded the categories of people prohibited from owning firearms, including convicted felons, those adjudicated with mental illness and users of illegal drugs. The GCA was later amended by the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act of 1986 and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993.