Second Mass. man expected to change plea in burning of black church after Obama election

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2nd Mass. man to change plea in black church arson

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A second man is expected to change his not-guilty plea in the arson fire that destroyed a predominantly black Massachusetts church hours after Barack Obama was elected president.

Thomas Gleason Jr. has a change-of-plea hearing scheduled Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Springfield. Gleason had been scheduled to go to trial on civil rights and other charges later this week.

His lawyer, Mark Albano, declined to comment when reached Monday.

Gleason is one of three white men charged with burning down the Macedonia Church of God in Christ on Nov. 5, 2008, the day after Obama was elected the nation’s first black president.

Last week, Benjamin Haskell pleaded guilty in a deal that calls for him to spend nine years in prison.