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closeTwo men accused of setting their friend’s groin on fire were sentenced to jail and prison this week.
Matthew Craig Pillers, 22, and Jack Brent Nicholas Keiffer, 19, pleaded no contest to felony causing a fire that leads to great bodily injury, according to court officials.
Pillers, who was on parole, was sentenced Thursday to two years in state prison after he rejected an offer of 270 days in County Jail and probation because he did not want to be on probation and parole at the same time, according to prosecutors.
Keiffer was sentenced to 45 days in County Jail, 100 hours of community service and substance abuse counseling and treatment, according to prosecutors.
The charges stemmed from a Jan. 18 incident in which the men set friend Elliot Tuleja’s groin area on fire as a practical joke. Tuleja was drinking with Keiffer and Pillers at a house in Grover Beach, said prosecutors.
The men routinely drank together and played practical jokes on each other. That night one of them poured cologne on Tuleja's groin area while he was passed out and allegedly lit his pants on fire, according to prosecutors. Tuleja suffered second-and third-degree burns on his testicles and third-degree burns on his inner thighs.
Pillers was convicted in 2004 of grand theft and buying stolen property and in 2005 of petty theft with a prior, according to local court records.
--Leslie Parrilla
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