Man gets 15 years for arson, looting during Baltimore unrest

BALTIMORE – A Baltimore man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for arson, looting and assault during the riots following the death of Freddie Gray last year, and for later shooting a gun in a $20 drug dispute.

Donta Betts was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty in federal court. The day before, the police driver of the van where Gray’s neck was broken was found not guilty of all charges.

The 20-year-old Betts was accused of trying to torch a police car, looting a CVS pharmacy and setting toilet paper on fire atop cylinders of propane to keep officers from entering the CVS store.

The propane tanks exploded, sending metal and debris into the crowds. The destruction of the CVS store came to symbolize violence in the city.

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