Second man pleads guilty in Mass. black church fire set hours after Obama’s election

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2nd Mass. man pleads guilty in black church fire

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A second white man pleaded guilty to setting a fire that destroyed a predominantly black Massachusetts church hours after Barack Obama was elected president.

Thomas Gleason Jr. changed his plea in U.S. District Court in Springfield on Tuesday, two days before he was scheduled to go to trial. Gleason pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy against civil rights; damage or destruction to religious property; and the use of fire to commit a felony.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 1.

Gleason, 22, of Springfield, was 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, co-defendant Benjamin Haskell, 23, pleaded guilty in a deal that calls for him to spend nine years in prison. No date has been set yet for the trial of the third defendant, Michael Jacques, 25, of Springfield.

Prosecutors said the three men were angry about Obama’s election and decided to retaliate by burning the church, which has about 300 members, most of whom are black.

Investigators said an informant led them to the three men.

The men told the informant they had set the fire, according to an FBI affidavit. When the informant asked Haskell why, Haskell said “because it was a black church,” according to the affidavit.

The men allegedly told investigators they walked through the woods behind the church, got in through a side window and doused the inside and outside with gasoline. The fire destroyed the church and caused minor injuries to three firefighters.

Gleason faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison on the charge of use of fire to commit a felony, a maximum sentence of 40 years on the charge of destruction of religious property and a maximum of 10 years on the conspiracy charge.

In Gleason’s plea agreement, prosecutors do not make a recommendation on sentencing, but say they may seek a sentence below federal sentencing guidelines because he is cooperating with investigators.

Gleason’s lawyer, Mark Albano, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.