Biography
Mark Warren Sands was prosecuted for setting fires at homes under construction near protected desert land in the Phoenix area. He was arrested on June 14, 2001 and pleaded guilty on November 7 to extortion and using fire to commit a federal felony. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton sentenced him to eighteen years in federal prison on February 11, 2002.
Previous biography:
Mark Warren Sands, age 50, was convicted in 2002 of nine counts of arson and nine counts of use of fire to commit a felony for setting fires to homes built on land near Arizona national preserves. Sentenced to 96 months federal prison.
Arrest correction October 13, 2026: The FBI's February 12, 2002 congressional testimony explicitly records Mark Warren Sands's arrest on June 14, 2001. This replaces the unsupported February 10, 2002 date. Arrest is not automatically entered as a prison-admission date. Reuters's sentencing report corroborates the existing February 11, 2002 sentence. The executed admission, actual release, and identifiable portrait remain unresolved. The unsupported admission, 2016 release placeholder, and exact 5,073-day total have been removed pending stronger evidence.
Official custody endpoint verified October 13, 2026: A read-only BOP locator search for the exact full name Mark Warren Sands returned one result: MARK WARREN SANDS, number 46192-008, age 75, not in BOP custody as of March 10, 2017. The exact three-part name and age agree with the historical case identification and reported age. The public register number and BOP endpoint are now recorded, with the visible observation retained in the audit. This does not establish the admission day or an earlier transfer out of a prison building. The generic locator icon is not used as a prisoner photograph.
