Firebombing Plea Means Detention For Teen

A 16-year-old boy who has admitted that he took part in the firebombing of a Piney Orchard townhouse that was intended as retaliation for the homicide of a Crofton teenager was sentenced Friday to serve the remainder of the summer in juvenile detention.

Anne Arundel County Juvenile Court Master Cynthia Ferris ordered the boy, whom The Baltimore Sun is not naming because he is a juvenile, held at the Western Maryland Children's Center until Aug. 20. The judge, who also ordered the boy to pay $1,800 in victims' restitution, said she took into account the boy's cooperation with prosecutors and the two months he has already served in detention.

"I want you to spend the rest of your summer locked up. You deserve it," Ferris told the boy, adding that his actions were "potentially deadly."

Last month. The boy admitted his involvement, the equivalent of a guilty plea in juvenile court, to a count of conspiracy to commit arson. The plea was part of a deal that required him to testify against three others, two juveniles and 22-year-old Jonathan R. Myers, who are also accused in the June 3 firebombing that charred the front of the house but did not injure anyone. The other charges were dropped. Myers is awaiting trial and the two other juveniles are out of detention and await sentencing.

- Nicole Fuller