A Duluth man who poured gasoline across the floor of a Brimson bait shop and tried to set it ablaze has been sentenced to 28.5 months in prison, the maximum allowed under the applicable guideline range. Michael David Nelson Kunnari, 45, was sentenced Monday after a judge rejected his bid to avoid prison time entirely.
According to MN Crime, Judge Michelle Anderson denied Kunnari’s request for a sentence without prison time and instead imposed the top of the sentencing-guideline range. The court also ordered Kunnari to pay $826.50 in restitution for damages, according to WDIO.
Gasoline, a Lighter, and a Confrontation
The attack happened on June 27 at Brimson Sportsmen’s Corner, a bait shop in the small community north of Duluth. Per the release cited by MN Crime, Kunnari entered the shop carrying a container of gasoline, confronted the owner about the owner’s past criminal convictions, and then poured the fuel inside the building.
WDIO reports Kunnari then tried to ignite a tissue with a lighter. The shop owner stopped him from igniting it and chased him out of the building with a bat, per the release cited by MN Crime.
A Motive Rooted in a Prior Conviction
The attack was motivated by the shop owner’s earlier convictions involving child sexual abuse material, according to the release. WDIO reported that the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office prosecuted that earlier case against the owner in 2024. In a statement to the Duluth News Tribune, Kunnari said he was upset because he believed that convicted pedophiles should be in prison.
St. Louis County Attorney Kim Maki said no one has the right to take the law into their own hands, regardless of another’s past criminal history, according to MN Crime. Assistant St. Louis County Attorney Aaron Welch prosecuted the case, and the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office investigated it, per the same account.
Sentencing Guidelines and the Underlying Charge
Per the release, Minnesota sentencing guidelines set a presumptive sentence of 41 to 57 months for first-degree arson for someone with no criminal history, with the range dropping to 20.5 to 28.5 months for a failed attempt. Kunnari received the maximum of that attempt range.
Separately, Minnesota’s first-degree arson statute allows for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $20,000, or both, according to the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes. An edition of the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines taking effect August 1, 2026, applies only to felony offenses committed on or after that date, meaning it does not govern the calculation used in Kunnari’s case, which stemmed from the June 27 incident.
The bait shop owner’s own legal history includes a separate 2024 case in which he received 10 years of supervised probation. That case is distinct from Kunnari’s sentencing and is not a direct comparison to the 28.5-month term he now faces.
