A Rhode Island man is poised to plead guilty on Jan. 7 for starting multiple fires just outside a majority-black church nearly a year ago, according to federal court documents. .
According to a plea agreement, 36-year-old Kevin Colantonio was arrested in the early morning hours of February 11 at Shiloh Gospel Temple in North Providence because of “the race, color, religion, national origin, or ethnicity of the members therein.” A fire was set near the outer wall of the building. Submitted on December 20th. Most of the members of the Pentecostal church, which has been around for about 35 years, are black and African American, investigators said.
Colantonio was charged with purchasing a pocket lighter and gasoline at a local convenience store and setting several fires just outside the Shiloh Evangelical Temple. It was approximately 12:10 a.m., and Shiloh Evangelical Temple was empty at that time, but the fire caused damage to church property.
Investigators said the place of worship likely would have been destroyed had firefighters and police not responded quickly to reports that someone was trying to set the church on fire. After focusing on Colantonio as a suspect in the case, authorities searched his home and found documents and notebooks containing phrases such as “burn down the church,” “hunt down,” and “shoot everyone who doesn’t.” It was confiscated. Especially white people,” Zachary Cunha, the U.S. attorney for Rhode Island, later said.
Federal authorities ultimately charged Colantonio with interfering with the free exercise of religious beliefs. two counts of malicious damage by fire and assault on a federal employee; The assault charge stems from allegations that Colantonio concocted a mixture of feces and urine and threw it at two correctional officers working at the detention center where he was being held pending the outcome of the case in March.
Colantonio could be sentenced to at least five years in prison after a rescheduled prosecutorial review hearing was tentatively scheduled for January 7. Colantonio could be sentenced to up to 56 years in prison, but a defendant who pleads guilty before forcing prosecutors to go to trial will receive the harshest possible sentence, according to a court filing he signed. is rarely given.
He could be fined up to $1 million and given three years of supervised release, the court filing said, confirming Colantonio’s “intent to enter a guilty plea.”
Kara Manosh, Colantonio’s lawyer, could not be reached for comment. The Associated Press reported that Manosh had previously declined to comment to the press.
Get the most important US headlines and highlights sent straight to your email every morning
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may include information about charities, online advertising, and content sponsored by external parties. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and are subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
After newsletter promotion
Report contributed by Associated Press
