A Northfield man will serve 120 days in Rice County Jail for receiving stolen goods, including appliances, taken from residential construction sites.

Michael Dale Stauffacher, 36, will report to jail on Jan. 21.

Rice County District Judge Thomas M. Neuville ordered a stay of imposition for the two felony charges of receiving stolen property, reserving stiffer penalties should Stauffacher violate his five-year probation, which includes completing 720 hours of community service within 18 months and paying a $250 fine within 24 months.

Stauffacher, of Northfield, faces up to 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine should he violate probation, according to state sentencing guidelines.

Though the troubles for Stauffacher are hardly over.

Stauffacher is also charged with two counts of first-degree arson. A jury trial begins April 11 for those charges but a settlement conference scheduled for March 17 might negate the trial.

It’s alleged Stauffacher set the Northfield house he was living in at 421 Lockwood St. on fire after police searched the home for stolen goods.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Rice County District Court:

In May 2009, a Scott County detective, posing as a buyer who found an ad on Craigslist.com, met with Stauffacher in a Roseville parking lot to look at an Electrolux cook top, similar to one that was reported stolen three weeks earlier in Credit River Township near Farmington.

After verifying the cook top was the one stolen based on its serial number, the detective identified himself and Stauffacher told police he had purchased the cook top from a man at a Hwy. 3 bar.

The next day, police received and executed a search warrant for 421 Lockwood St.

Police confiscated several items, many of which had been reported stolen within the past year, including a wall oven, refrigerator and wine cabinet.

Two days later, Northfield Police were dispatched to the same address at 3:32 a.m. The house was engulfed in flames.

The house, valued at $135,000, according to Rice County property records, was a total loss.

The fire was intentional, according to the deputy state fire marshal. Two plastic fuel cans were found in a hallway and a clear line of fuel ran from one end of the house to the other.

Eight days following the fire, police arrested Stauffacher on the stolen goods charges.

According to the complaint, officers said Stauffacher’s eyebrows appeared short and discolored and different from when they searched his home on May 28.

Police said it also appeared that Stauffacher had dyed his hair and shaved his torso. He also had reddened skin around his neck, a blister-like mark on his right thumb and a pink sore on his right index finger, police say.

The following day, the complaint says, police collected hair samples from Stauffacher’s right hand, eyebrows and eyelashes. A forensic scientist determined the hairs had been burnt or singed.

Stauffacher faces 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine for each arson charge.