Customer Service  Subscribe Now  Renew Subscription  Place a Classified  Contact Us
RSS newsfeeds
Get Mobile
Text Alerts
E-mail Alerts

montgomeryadvertiser.com
:: Weather | Jobs | Cars | Homes
| Apartments
| Classifieds | Shopping | Dating

57°F

Forecast »

Homepage

News

Alabama

Archives

Business

Columnists

Elections

Faith
& Values

Forums

Games
and Comics

Lifestyle

Local

National

Obituaries

Opinion

Photo
Galleries

Teacher
Resources

Technology

Weddings

go! Entertainment

Sports

Classifieds

Cars

Homes

Jobs

Place
an ad

Customer Service

Contact
Us

Subscribe

Communities

March 24, 2007

3 charged in state church fires seek youthful status

The Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM
-- Three former college students who pleaded guilty to federal charges in a
string of rural church arsons will ask a judge to treat them as youthful
offenders as they answer state charges.

Lawyers for
Matthew Cloyd, Russell Lee DeBusk and Benjamin Nathan Moseley have applied
for youthful offender status, a move that could reduce their eventual
punishment for the blazes, Bibb County District Attorney Michael Jackson said
Tuesday.

Cloyd was 20
at the time of his arrest last year, and Moseley and DeBusk were both 19. If
classified as youth offenders, they would face a maximum of three years in
jail and their court records would be sealed.

Jackson said
he doesn't expect a state judge to grant the request, however.

"We plan
to send them off to prison longer than three years," Jackson told The
Birmingham News.

Cloyd's
attorney, Tommy Spina, said seeking youthful offender status is a requirement
under state rules, which allow youthful offender status for anyone under 21
at the time a crime was committed.

Bibb County
Judge Marvin Wiggins scheduled a hearing for April 12 to consider the
request.

The hearing
was set for three days after the three are scheduled to be in federal court
for their sentencing in the blazes. Each faces a minimum of seven years in
federal prison for the spree of fires.

Cloyd and
Moseley pleaded guilty in December to a federal indictment charging them with
conspiracy and arson in burning nine churches in Bibb, Pickens, Greene and
Sumter counties. DeBusk pleaded guilty to conspiracy and burning five
churches in Bibb County.

The three
face state arson charges in Greene, Pickens and Sumter counties besides Bibb.

Cloyd was a
student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham at the time of the blazes.
He previously attended Birmingham-Southern College, where Moseley and DeBusk
were enrolled.

montgomeryadvertiser.com
and its related sites are pleased to be able to offer its users the
opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the
interactive nature of the Internet makes it impracticable for our staff to
monitor each and every posting. Since the montgomeryadvertiser.com does not
control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not
occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our Web site. In
addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that
responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the
comment, not montgomeryadvertiser.com or its related sites. All comments
posted should comply with the montgomeryadvertiser.com's terms
of service.

Add Comment
| View All Comments

Reader Comment

Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:53 am

I agree with you livin.

An 18 year old in Huntsville who drove drunk
and killed someone, and seriously injured the victim's brother just got
youthful offender status.

And while he was out on bail, it was revoked
because he hit someone with a pool cue.

Yeah, I feel so much better that he will have
a clean record after his sentence.

Yeah! Go Justice System.

None of these people should be youthful
offenders. They are of age. They should face their punishments like adults.

Reader Comment

Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:40 am

These young men ARE NOT
mentally disabled, not even slightly. They were from good family's and
attending college. They knew better. IF they were drunk, then maybe they
need to refrain from drinking when they get out of prison. They don't
deserve youthful status. They need to be treated like any other criminal
who breaks the law.

To all of you who want to say, everyone makes
mistakes....that is true. There first mistake was the first church they set
on fire. If they had stopped at that point then maybe they would not be at
this point. People who keep making the same mistakes, especially where the
law is concerned, end up in jail or prison.

size=2 width="100%" align=center height=1>

Other
articles:

• Funeral held for Enterprise tornado victim

• Enterprise residents think ahead to future

• Cyclists chart former slave route

• Police: Thieves coveting copper

• 'Rock star' politics takes center stage

• Road to White House goes through Selma

• Tourists get warm welcome

• Luxury condos going up by the Coosa

• Former Millbrook teacher pleads guilty to porn
charge

• New primary date may have lured candidates

• Miners with PinnOak win pay, benefit increases

• Apparent burglary attempt collapses

• Power restored for some, not all

• Lawmakers back ban on PAC-to-PAC transfers

• REVIEW

ADT's production of 'Peter Pan' soars to new heights

• Wilcox County digs out after killer storm

• Blood needed for tornado victims

• Hunter finds woman's body

• Trustees approve development center

• Symposium honors longtime activists

Article tools

Post
a comment for this story

Text
alerts to your cell phone

E-mail
this story

Print

Get
breaking news, briefing e-mailed to you

Subscribe to
the Montgomery Advertiser

Save this page to Del.icio.us