BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — The three men charged in the string of 10 church fires in rural Alabama will not seek release on bond from their federal charges, their lawyers said.
Matthew Lee Cloyd, 20; Benjamin Moseley, 19; and Russell DeBusk Jr., 19, could have been released on a $50,000 bond with strict conditions, the Associated Press reported. Instead, Moseley's lawyer told AP reporters that Moseley's concern for the affected church members determined his decision to remain in jail.
In addition to the federal charges, each man is charged with state arson and burglary charges. The state arson charges mean that if released, the suspects would spend time in Bibb County Jail. All men currently reside in federal custody in the Shelby County Jail. Moseley and Cloyd also face arrest warrants in Pickens County.
If convicted on all state counts, each suspect will face between 15 and 150 years in state prison. As for federal charges, each man faces between seven and 40 years in federal prison.
According to U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert R. Armstrong Jr., none of the three students had a criminal record, and all came from “normal, stable, caring, working-parent homes,” the AP reported. Armstrong also said, however, that the under-aged men “drink alcoholic beverages in amounts that would be excessive for adults.”
Cloyd, a premed student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, met DeBusk and Moseley during his freshman and sophomore years at Birmingham-Southern College. Theater majors, DeBusk and Moseley were well-known at the small liberal-arts school, which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
Students and administrators at Birmingham-Southern have expressed shock and grief over the fires, which officials have said started as a “joke” that spun out of control. President David Pollick promised to help rebuild the churches through university efforts involving student volunteers.
“We have people contacting each of these churches right now,” Pollick told the AP. “The important thing is to be helpful, not cumbersome.”
Pollick said he wanted the university to avoid becoming a “mini-FEMA” by listening to church needs and using “the mechanisms in place.”
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