FLORIDA : Jury Goes Easy on Drug House Arsonist

A man who admitted torching what he said was a crack house that police refused to clean out was cleared of arson charges and convicted of four lesser charges instead. Sam Mohammed’s jury deliberated for about an hour before returning the verdicts in a West Palm Beach courtroom packed with family, friends and well-wishers from his impoverished neighborhood. Mohammed had told the jury that he burned the building because he and his neighbors felt they were getting no help from police. The judge let Mohammed remain free pending a sentencing hearing, but admonished him to “stay out of the newspapers.” “I won’t be burning any more houses,” Mohammed replied.