SKOWHEGAN — A woman accused of setting fire to her home in North Anson has six to 12 months to live, her attorney said in court Tuesday.

Because the woman, 50-year-old Mary Hoskins, has reached the terminal stages of cancer, she shouldn’t spend her last days in Somerset County Jail, defense attorney Andrew Ketterer told the judge.

Judge John Nivison ultimately disagreed and ruled to maintain Hoskins’ high bail.

At Tuesday’s hearing in Somerset County Superior Court, the defense and prosecution argued solely about the issue of Hoskins’ bail. Hoskins has not yet entered a plea on the felony arson charge.

Ketterer asked for a “compassionate decision” of $1,000 cash or $10,000 surety, saying even those amounts would prove difficult for her to raise.

However, Assistant District Attorney Brent Davis described how Hoskins recently fled to New Hampshire to escape arrest and how she was convicted in another case of burning down her house more than a decade ago.

Nivison ultimately sided with the state, saying that the serious charge and cancer prognosis offered Hoskins “significant motivation” to flee.

“I don’t see a basis for reducing in any significant way the bail,” Nivison said. It will stay at $50,000 cash or $100,000 surety.

However, Nivison added, the court would see that Hoskins receives appropriate medical treatment.

Hoskins faces up to 30 years in prison for allegedly setting fire to her mobile home on Sept. 13, 2008. Her son, Neal Hoskins, 29, of Anson, told investigators both he and his mother were responsible for the blaze on Embden Pond Road.

Neal Hoskins pleaded guilty and was sentenced Sept. 7 to 10 years in prison, all but two years suspended, for setting the fire with the intent to collect insurance money, according to court documents.

Mary Hoskins had known for months she was under investigation for arson, attorneys said Tuesday, but it wasn’t until a warrant for her arrest was issued that she fled.

According to Davis, Ketterer promised him the day the warrant was issued that Hoskins “would turn herself in by 3 o’clock that day.”

She never showed up. Davis said Ketterer did exactly as he was supposed to, and “it was obvious he was extremely surprised” by Hoskins’ actions.

Later, Hoskins was spotted at a camp in western Maine, and her vehicle plate number was reported to police. “They located the vehicle shortly thereafter in New Hampshire,” Davis said.

There was camping gear inside, and Hoskins gave a false name — Mary Adler — to New Hampshire police, he said. Even though the vehicle inspection sticker indicated she was Mary Hoskins, she still denied it, saying she had lost her identification, Davis said. He added she was “somewhat resistant” when arrested.

Davis also recounted Hoskins’ criminal record. She and her now-deceased husband, Paul, were convicted of arson in 1998 for burning down their Salem Township home to collect insurance.

Ketterer said that Hoskins “showed extremely poor judgment in not turning herself in,” but said she didn’t run away in the previous few months when she knew she was under investigation.

He gave a doctor’s statement to the judge and said Hoskins’ health condition “basically amounts to a life sentence for her.”

Nivison said appropriate treatment could be provided while she was in jail, as Hoskins wiped away tears. When she returned to her seat, she placed her head on the railing in front of her.

Erin Rhoda — 612-2368

[email protected]