(NECN: John Moroney, Brockton, Mass.) - Superior Court Judge Carol Ball is getting heat from fire chiefs who sat in her courtroom Friday morning as she sentenced two men in connection with a rash of arson fires that terrorized southeastern Massachusetts.
Forty-six-year-old Mark Sargent and his girlfriend's 24-year-old son, Jeanmarie Louis, pleaded guilty to arson, following the investigation of 30 suspicious fires between 2012 and 2013.
The attorney for the older defendant said his client was remorseful, but not the only suspect in this case. Sargent was sentenced to up to three years. Prosecutors had wanted as many as 12. Louis received one year and will be released shortly because of time served.
Judge Ball said she could not consider the other fires, telling the courtroom she believes the sentences are appropriate given the guidelines.
Six firefighters were hurt battling the suspicious fires, but no one killed.
Sargent admitted to starting there fires, and Louis started one. The biggest blaze took place at a Marshfield Marina, destroying six boats, including the commercial fishing boat owned by Ralph Pratt and his wife.
