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WARREN -- A Youngstown man on Monday received five years of probation after being convicted in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court of an aggravated arson charge.
Thomas McIntire, 45, of South Avenue, Youngstown, also was told by Judge Peter J. Kontos to register with the sheriff's office as an arson offender.
McIntire, who was released from jail after the court hearing, faces paying restitution in the case. It involves the intentionally set fire early in the morning June 15, at a building on the former Walnut Run Golf Course, 601 E. Main St., Cortland.
Defense attorney Heather Ninni said her client suffered from abuse as a child and was put into foster care. He has been on disability and needs mental health treatment. He said he was homeless at the time of the incident and started the fire in an effort to keep warm.
McIntire told the judge he was sorry.
Court records show McIntire pleaded guilty Aug. 8 to a charge of arson. A misdemeanor charge of criminal trespass was dismissed. The plea deal headed off a scheduled Sept. 7 jury trial.
A passerby had reported the barn at the former golf course was in flames shortly after 6:30 a.m., according to a 911 report. The flames could be seen from nearby state Route 11.
Authorities found a man covered in mud, later identified as McIntire, walking eastbound on Everett Hull Road in Fowler Township just east of the Route 11 underpass. The man told police officers he had frostbite on his hands.
The golf course's former maintenance barn was destroyed, the report states. A report from the state fire marshal said the fire was suspicious because the building's electricity had been shut off, and interior gas appliances were removed.
Trumbull County jail records showed McIntire had been incarcerated since 8:42 a.m. on the day of the fire.