A Torrance Superior Court Monday found a local woman and her boyfriend guilty of felony arson, and sentenced the couple to three years in state prison for throwing a Molotov cocktail into a Hermosa Beach home located on Gould Avenue around 9 p.m. on Christmas Day, 2003.

According to Deputy District Attorney Frank Tavelman, Judge Laura Ellison sentenced the couple after they pleaded no contest to the charge.

On Dec. 28, Hermosa Beach Police arrested Brandi Nason, 20, of Manhattan Beach, and her boyfriend Marshal Penna, 24, of Citrus Heights for allegedly throwing a firebomb through the front glass door of Nason’s former stepmother’s home which started a blaze, causing extensive damage to the bottom floor.

Both defendants have to serve 85 percent of their sentence before they are eligible for parole. If they had agreed to go to trial for the charge and were convicted, they could have served a maximum of eight years in prison.

According to Tavelman, Nason drove her car to a gas station where the couple filled up a 40-ounce beer bottle with gasoline and then she dropped off Penna near the house. He threw the Molotov cocktail into the house and then fled the scene.

“They were both equally culpable,” said Tavelman. “Nason drove Penna to the gas station to have him get the gasoline for the Molotov cocktail, she drove him to the victim’s house and she made no effort to stop him. He was acting based upon a conflict she had with her stepmom. They both had relatively little criminal records and both accepted responsibility early on when they spoke with police. There was no indication that the defendants knew there was someone inside the house at the time of the crime, otherwise they would have been looking at a different charge.”

According to Hermosa Beach Detective Sgt. Steve Endom, police learned that Nason was angry with her former stepmother because her father was paying alimony to his now ex-wife. The motive of the crime was revenge and Press Information Officer Sgt. Paul Wolcott said Nason expressed no remorse during her interviews with detectives.

“Nason said she hated her former stepmom for all of the grief that she had given her father during the course of the divorce and that when she received the gift from her, it angered her because she resented receiving that gift,” said Endom.

According to Endom, the victim, who was home alone, watched as the firebomb came crashing through her home and ignited a fire that spread across the wooden floor. The victim immediately called 911, and then vacated the home.

Hermosa Beach firefighters contained the blaze to the bottom level of the home, which caused an estimated $700,000 in damages.

“There is a step-sibling Nason had, and so at the time they committed this crime, they had personal knowledge that her stepsister was not going to be in the house, so if someone was hurt it wouldn’t have included her stepsister” said Endom. “There was no one else in the house except for the former stepmom.”

Hermosa Beach Arson Investigator Daryl Powers, along with police detectives Robert Higgins and Endom, initiated an investigation and worked through the December weekend, collecting evidence at the scene.

“The Hermosa Beach Police and Fire departments did an excellent job at building a very strong case against both of them,” added Tavelman. “We evaluated what the case was worth based upon their criminal record, which was nominal, the action involved and their level of cooperation. I believe their state prison sentence was appropriate. This was the best they knew they were able to get.”

Detectives learned that Nason and Penna both plotted to firebomb the home and used the beer bottle with a homemade wick fashioned by Penna.

“The couple drove into Southern California from their home in the Sacramento area,” said Endom. “She drove by her former stepmother’s house with her new boyfriend, Penna, and pointed out the house. Then they checked into their hotel room (at a hotel in Manhattan Beach) and they went to her father’s house in Manhattan Beach later that morning for Christmas. They left, returned to their hotel room, got an empty bottle of beer and went to a gas station. There, they used change to buy gas and Nason dropped off Penna at the corner. He walked down the street and threw the bottle through the window. He said that he did it to demonstrate his love for her and she said she was aware he was going to do it.”

Following up on a lead, detectives began surveillance on the young couple and later arrested them. Police obtained a search warrant for Nason’s car and discovered additional evidence that tied the two suspects to the arson, along with drug paraphernalia most likely used in conjunction with methamphetamine.

Nason was arrested and her bail was set at $250,000. She appeared in court on arraignment in late February in the Torrance Superior Courthouse where Judge William Hollingsworth presided over the proceeding and where Nason pleaded not guilty to the charge of arson.

Police later transported Penna, who also appeared in court and also pleaded not guilty to the charge of arson with a bail set for the same amount, to the Los Angeles County Jail due to unspecified medical problems.