By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

Sherry L. Thomas

ELKHART — An Elkhart woman involved in setting multiple barns in northern Indiana on fire has received a 10-year sentence.

Sherry L. Thomas, 33, Elkhart, was charged with arson, a level 4 felony. Seven additional arson charges, as well as a contributing to the delinquency of a minor charge, were all dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Thomas was sentenced in Elkhart Superior Court Two on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

She received a 10-year sentence, with eight years to be served through Michiana Community Corrections and two years suspended on probation. The case will be served consecutively to Thomas’s pending Kosciusko and Marshall County arson cases. Thomas has 398 days of jail time credit in the Elkhart County case.

Thomas’s co-defendant, Joseph Hershberger, was sentenced in November 2022 to 50 years in prison and 46 years on parole for barn fires in Elkhart County on April 13, 2021; July 28, 2021; and Oct. 1, 2021. He also has pending arson cases in Kosciusko and Marshall Counties.