Arsonists jailed for torching black church only hours after Obama's election victory 24-year-old must also pay $1.7 million in restitution after pleading guilty to what prosecutors branded a racially motivated arson
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The last of three Massachusetts men charged in the burning of a predominantly black church to protest President Barack Obama's election was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in federal prison on Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors said Thomas Gleason was also ordered to pay $1.7 million in restitution. The 24-year-old pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy against civil rights and other charges for what prosecutors called a racially motivated arson.
Prosecutors said Gleason and two friends burned down the Macedonia Church of God in Christ in Springfield on Nov. 5, 2008, hours after Obama was elected as the nation's first black president. Michael Jacques was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison. Benjamin Haskell received a nine-year sentence. All three men are white.
Well, it's nice to see that the three knuckledraggers are finally sentenced to 4.5, 9 and 14 years, respectively...And $1.7 million in restitution for their hateful acts.
