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Bundick Enters Alford Plea to Virginia Eastern Shore Fires

courtroom pool camera

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - A woman faces 17 years in prison for participating in a string of fires set on the Eastern Shore.

Media outlets report that Tonya Bundick entered Alford pleas on Monday to all 61 arson counts remaining against her. She previously was convicted of setting two fires on the Eastern Shore.

An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgement the state has enough evidence to convict.

Bundick had been scheduled to stand trial on Monday in Virginia Beach Circuit Court on one arson count stemming from a March 2013 fire in Savageville.

Co-defendant Charles Smith is awaiting sentencing on arson and conspiracy charges.

The fires occurred in 2012 and 2013.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.