A 20-year-old Odenton man who prosecutors said "has been a problem for a very long time" was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison for assaulting a security guard at a Columbia apartment complex in May.

Rick Delay Britton, of the 1200 block of Scotts Manor Court, was convicted in December by a Howard County Circuit Court jury of first-degree assault, use of a handgun in the commission of a violent crime and possession of a handgun.

Police and prosecutors say Britton was with Derrod Peterson when Peterson attacked the security guard. When the guard ran away, Britton fired four shots in the man's direction. All of them missed. The gun was never recovered, police said.

Senior Assistant State's Attorney Colleen McGuinn told Judge Lenore R. Gelfman that Britton had four previous misdemeanor convictions and a long juvenile record that had placed him under the supervision of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, where she said "he never, never did very well."

Gelfman sentenced Britton to 10 years for first-degree assault and a mandatory five years without parole for using a handgun to commit a violent crime. Britton apologized to his mother in the courtroom.