Prosecutors said Thursday that the Central Florida man accused of igniting a deadly fire in Los Angeles could face the death penalty as a federal judge in Orlando ruled he will remain jailed ahead of trial.

For now, Jonathan Rinderknecht , a 29-year-old Melbourne resident, is accused only of property destruction by means of fire for setting the Pacific Palisades blaze that killed 12 people and destroyed dozens of homes across thousands of acres of land. That crime carries up to 20 years in federal prison.

ALSO SEE: For many in the Palisades, arson arrest affirms suspicions of a fire before the big one

Prosecutors and defense attorneys spent more than an hour Thursday morning on arguments that emphasized Rinderknecht’s precarious mental state, the evidence that connects him to the fi

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