Sentence reversed in arson that hurt firefighters

ANN ARBOR (AP) -- A federal appeals court says a judge inadvertently violated a plea deal when he gave a 15-year prison sentence for a man who set a fire that paralyzed a Detroit firefighter and injured six of his colleagues. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Wednesday sent the case back to Detroit U.S. District Judge John Corbett O'Meara. The Detroit News says O'Meara can either sentence 32-year-old Samson Wright to no more than 7 years in prison or let him withdraw his guilty plea. Prosecutors say the judge, prosecutors and defendant didn't realize at the 2011 sentencing that the plea deal included a 7-year maximum. Authorities say Wright and Calvin Jones set a fire that destroyed a two-story commercial building on Detroit's east side in 2010. Published: Fri, Apr 26, 2013