Ex-firefighter gets reduced arson sentence

A former Ellicott City volunteer firefighter convicted of second-degree arson was granted a reduced sentence Wednesday in Howard County Circuit Court.

“But if I get any indication you are using or abusing alcohol during the probation period, I will pull you off the street,” Judge Dennis Sweeney told Joseph Schroen, 21, after trimming his prison sentence from 18 months to 15 months followed by two years of supervised probation.