Man Gets 7 Year Sentence For Fire That Paralyzed Detroit Firefighter
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A Detroit man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in a fire that paralyzed a firefighter.
Calvin Jones got the punishment Thursday in Ann Arbor federal court. He struck a plea deal in August, months after an appeals court found problems with Jones' trial and threw out his conviction and 15-year sentence. The seven-year sentence was the recommendation of prosecutors and Jones' attorney
Firefighter Brendan Milewski was paralyzed while trying to extinguish the fire at a commercial building in Detroit in 2010. Many other firefighters were injured.
Jones says he filled plastic bottles with gasoline for co-defendant Samson Wright, whose 15-year sentence was also thrown out by the appeals court. He could go to trial next year.
Authorities say Wright and Jones set a fire at a Metro PCS store on Detroit's east side in 2010. As firefighters battled the blaze, the ceiling and roof of the second floor burned completely through. The second story wall of the structure collapsed on seven firefighters who were attempting to fight the fire. Four firefighters were forced to retire due to their injuries, including Brendan Milewski, who was paralyzed from the waist down.
Wright pleaded guilty to malicious use of fire and was sentenced to 15-years in federal prison. He later appealed his sentence, saying it exceeded the seven-year maximum penalty outlined in a plea deal. Officials say no one — including the judge, prosecutors and defendant — realized at the 2011 sentencing that the plea deal included a seven-year maximum.
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