Maryland Man Sentenced to 8 Years for Historic Building Fire

An Maryland man who set fire to his apartment building in a botched suicide attempt was given an eight-year sentence.

Forty-three-year-old John Bushman Jr. was sentenced Tuesday in Frederick by Circuit Judge Theresa M. Adams who suspended the rest of Bushman’s 30-year sentence.

Bushman pleaded guilty earlier this year to six counts of reckless endangerment for jeopardizing the safety of his neighbors.

Bushman told police he set his pillow on fire April 3. As flames spread through the 151-year-old former hotel, he knocked on neighbors’ doors and told them to leave.

Twenty-eight people in 17 apartments were uprooted by the blaze. Some lost pets, and two suffered minor injuries. A pizza shop was also damaged.