DANBURY — In Connecticut Superior Court this week, a Southington man, whom police charged with arson in connection with a January 2017 package store fire on South Main Street, was found guilty of first-degree arson, first-degree reckless endangerment, and insurance fraud.

Judge Kevin Russo on November 5 found Scott B. Young, 41, guilty of the three crimes to which Young had pleaded nolo contendre. In such nolo pleas, the defendant does not contest the charges. Young had been the proprietor of Rooster Wines & Liquors at 113 South Main Street at the time of the incident.

The state did not prosecute five other charges to which Young pleaded not guilty. Those charges were interfering with police, making a false statement, first-degree criminal mischief, and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment.

In court, Judge Russo sentenced Young to seven years in prison, which would be suspended after he serves six months. Following his release next May, Young will be placed on three years of probation, according to a court official.

Young was an inmate in Bridgeport Correctional Center on the night of November 9. He had been free on $100,000 bail after his arrest by Newtown police in connection with the January 21, 2017 package store incident.

In making the arrest, police stated that Young falsely claimed that two male robbers started a fire within the package store and sprayed anti-Semitic graffiti on the building’s exterior after committing robbery. Through their investigation, police determined that no robbery occurred and that Young started that fire and sprayed the graffiti.

First-degree arson is a Class A felony, which can carry a lengthy prison term in a conviction. There were no injuries in the fire, to which all five local volunteer fire companies responded.

Police have said they filed three separate counts of first-degree reckless endangerment against Young because three people — a father, a mother, and a child — were inside their apartment, which is located on the second story of 113 South Main Street, when Mr Young set the fire inside the ground-floor package store.

According to the arrest warrant application, police explain that they grew suspicious of what Young had told them about the incident as they investigated it, finding certain inconsistencies in his story as he told and retold them what had occurred.

Police also found inconsistencies between certain physical evidence at the scene and the story that Young had provided about the incident.

Detective Jason Frank applied for the arrest warrant.