Texas man who set fire to an Austin synagogue sentenced to 10 years

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas man who set fire to an Austin synagogue in an antisemitic attack two years ago has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Twenty-year-old Franklin Sechriest was sentenced on Wednesday. He had previously pleaded guilty to arson and a hate crime causing damage to religious property on Halloween 2021. He also was ordered to pay $470,000 in restitution to Congregation Beth Israel. Sechriest will serve an additional three years of supervised release once he gets out of prison. Federal investigators said Sechriest had written racist and antisemitic journal entries before setting the fire.