Grand Meadow Woman Sentenced in ‘Online Affair’ Arson Case

Austin, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Grand Meadow woman has been sentenced to three years on probation for an arson conviction.

54-year-old Phyllis Gregerson entered into a plea agreement in May and admitted to a first-degree arson charge in exchange for the dismissal of a felony terroristic threats charge and a misdemeanor domestic assault charge. She was accused of setting a fire at her family's rural property that destroyed a shed and the new John Deere tractor.

The criminal complaint says Gregerson's husband called authorities in Mower County and told them his wife had been drinking and started the fire after she accused him of having an "online" affair with another woman. He also stated that she threatened to burn down their house and kill him and herself.

The court document indicated Gregerson spoke to the responding deputy and told him she had purchased the tractor for $32,000 to make her husband happy. She went on to say that she had found out about an "Internet affair" and the tractor "had to go."

The deputy quoted Gregerson as saying, "You don't get a girlfriend and a John Deere tractor and a wife to pay for your midlife crisis. You can have one of those and be forgiven, but you can’t have two, and you definitely can't have a wife paying for it."