Teen Gets 2 1/2-Year Term for Burning Black Church
<i> Associated Press</i>
WILMINGTON, N.C. —
A white teenager was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Monday for burning a black church.
Matthew Neal Blackburn, 19, of Stella, N.C., had pleaded guilty in May to federal charges in connection with the blaze last summer at the St. James AME Zion church. He was also ordered to pay for the damage to the church, which reopened on Easter Sunday after $55,000 worth of repairs.
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