MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A federal prosecutor says a former fire chief from a northeastern Minnesota community awaiting sentencing for arson has been diagnosed as a pyromaniac.

Thirty-year-old Ryan Scharber resigned as fire chief of Babbitt in St. Louis County in December 2012. He later pleaded guilty to setting a fire in the Superior National Forest and another at a resort in Babbitt.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Dunne argued in a sentencing recommendation filed in federal court Tuesday that Scharber should be sent to prison for five years. Dunne says a psychiatrist at the Range Mental Health Center has diagnosed Scharber with pyromania.

Reports say defense attorney Joseph Tamburino is recommending a lesser sentence because Scharber has been willing to seek therapy and has cooperating with investigators. Sentencing is scheduled April 10 in Duluth.

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