Former Waukegan mayoral candidate to serve three years for arson

A former Waukegan mayoral candidate will spend three years behind bars for burning down an iconic city building more than a year ago.

Gregory Flesher, 49, accepted a plea deal admitting he set fire to the vacant Salvation Army facility in the 100 block of Genessee Street on May 3, 2011, said Assistant Lake County State's Attorney Reginald Mathews.

Mathews said Flesher will serve three years in Illinois Department of Corrections for arson before facing extradition to Canada, where he's been linked to a fatal fire last year. He is a “person of interest” for starting a May 2011 fire in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. that killed a woman, Mathews said.

In 2009, Flesher finished a distant third in a mayoral campaign against current Mayor Robert Sabonjian and Democrat Richard Hyde.