A Baltimore man was sentenced on Thursday to pay $1 million in restitution for puncturing a fire hose at a burning drugstore during rioting last year, federal authorities said.
Gregory Butler Jr, 22, was also sentenced by a federal judge to 250 hours of community service and three years of supervised release for obstructing firefighters at a CVS Health Corp pharmacy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baltimore said in a statement.
The drugstore was set afire in April 2015 during unrest after the funeral of Freddie Gray, a black man who died from an injury suffered while in police custody. His death heightened a U.S. debate on police treatment of minorities.
Butler had admitted to twice puncturing the hose with a knife. The incident was caught on video and the burning pharmacy became a symbol of unrest in the largely African-American city.
U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz ordered Butler to pay $100 a month during his supervised release. Failure to pay could be a violation of his release, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said in an email.
After the supervisory release ends, Butler’s payment will be set based on his ability to pay. Motz set the restitution figure based on lost rent from the building, lost income from the store, legal fees, and destruction of the hose, she said.