Transient Gets Life Sentence for LA Arson Fire That Killed 5

A transient who set a deadly arson fire in a vacant building that killed five people has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office reports that 25-year-old Johnny Josue Sanchez was sentenced Friday.

Sanchez was convicted last November of five counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.

He was also convicted of the special circumstance allegations of arson and arson for murder.

Authorities say Sanchez, who had taken up residence in the building with other transients, set the fire following a dispute with members of the group.

It took nearly 150 firefighters more than two hours to extinguish the blaze that gutted the building near the city's MacArthur Park, near downtown.

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