No-contest pleas were entered Thursday by eight of the 10 individuals charged with trespassing and starting an illegal campfire on brush-covered private property the night before the Tea Fire erupted.

Seven of the individuals — Hope Sjohnet Dunlap, Fahad Al-Fadhel, Casey James Lamonte, Natalie Rose Maese, Carver William McLellan, Stephen Reid and Lauren Elizabeth Vazquez — were sentenced to 75 hours of community service, two years of unsupervised probation and $500 fines. The eighth defendant, Joshua Grant Decker-Trinidad, chose 61 days in Santa Barbara County Jail to avoid probation, and reportedly will apply for an electronic monitoring device.

Mohammed Alessam and Hashim Ali Hassan, the other two defendants, received similar sentences after pleading no contest March 24.

The defendants were initially believed to have started the Tea Fire, which ignited around 6:30 p.m. Nov. 13 in the area of the Tea Garden in the Montecito foothills. The blaze destroyed 230 homes as it raged across nearly 2,000 acres before containment about a week later. After a three-month investigation, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office was unable to prove the Tea Fire was a direct result of the illegal campfire and the defendants were charged with the two misdemeanors instead of criminal charges related to the larger blaze.

A no-contest plea in criminal court cannot be used against a defendant in civil court because it’s not technically an admission of guilt. However, a no-contest plea does not get a defendant out of punishment.

In March, the law offices of Cappello & Noël said it would be representing Blanca Benedict Flore, mother of Tea Fire survivor Carla Hoffman. The firm also said it would investigate the circumstances surrounding the fire and whether the defendants could be held accountable for the blaze in civil court.

Attempts to contact Cappello & Noël were unsuccessful Friday.

— Noozhawk intern Kenny Lindberg can be reached at news@noozhawk.com.