Business owner sentenced to 10 years for chemical attack

Todd Russell Fries, former owner of Burns Power Washing, was sentenced Monday in Pima County Superior Court after a jury found him guilty in March of two counts of attempted first-degree murder. He also was convicted of 22 other charges, including arson, kidnapping, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and endangerment.

The charges stemmed from an elaborate campaign of terror aimed at two former clients of Fries' company on Tucson's northwest side. The plot began with a dispute over a few hundred dollars and culminated with the burning of chlorine tablets mixed with other chemicals outside the couple's home in 2009. The fire spewed a chlorine plume that prosecutors said spread a mile wide over the neighborhood.

Fries is already serving a 17-year prison term in federal prison for convictions in 2012 and 2013 of unlawful possession and use of a chemical weapon, providing false information to federal agents, and possession of unregistered destructive devices.

His term in state prison will begin after he completes his time in federal prison.