A judge has ordered a prosecutor and defense attorney to meet and confer over restitution for a Point Loma woman who was convicted of arson of a business where she worked as a bookkeeper.

A final restitution figure has not yet been determined for Carey Alice Hernandez, 47, who was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison recently by U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta.

Hernandez worked at the Off Road Warehouse, known as ORW, and owned by Randy Weisser. It sold and installed automotive parts and gear for off-roading. The fire occurred on March 28, 2019.

“I will go out with a bang!!” wrote Hernandez in an email days before the fire, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office during her trial.

Ohta sentenced Hernandez to 70 months in prison, which is 10 months longer than the prosecutor’s recommendation, according to court records. Her attorney also recommended 60 months.

“This defendant intentionally set a dangerous inferno in what appears to have been an attempt to conceal a massive theft,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Haden.

Ohta described Hernandez’s actions as “wanton, deliberate, and destructive…a very dangerous crime” that put firefighters at risk.

A jury deliberated eight hours over several days in April 2024 before convicting her of malicious destruction of a building by arson, witness tampering, and making false statements.

Weisser decided to sell the business and began an audit of ORW. The audit showed that $744,621 was missing from January 2015 to March 2019, which reflected when Hernandez was bookkeeper and controller, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Surveillance video cameras showed an SUV with dark wheel rims was near Hernandez’s home in Point Loma and was also the same vehicle near the scene of the fire. Hernandez denied the vehicle was hers, and she told ORW employees she had a similar vehicle with light wheel rims.

“Arson crimes are not victimless fires,” said Chris Bombardiere, the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms special agent in charge in Los Angeles, in a statement.

“This criminal act devastated a business and the livelihood of several individuals and families,” said Bombardiere. “ATF stands willing and ready to partner with federal, state, and local public safety officials to keep our communities free from dangerous arsonists.”

She had been free on $30,000 bond until the verdict, when she was remanded to jail. In the last year, she worked in the Metropolitan Correctional Center’s library and also as an orderly in her housing unit.