U.S. District Judge Richard Haik also on Wednesday ordered 35-year-old Brian Toriano Crimiel to pay a total of nearly $4,000 in restitution to the St. James Baptist Church and to the insurance company of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - A Lafayette man has been sentenced to five years in prison for spray-painting racial slurs on two churches and lying to a federal agent.
U.S. District Judge Richard Haik also on Wednesday ordered 35-year-old Brian Toriano Crimiel to pay a total of nearly $4,000 in restitution to the St. James Baptist Church and to the insurance company of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.
A three-count indictment accused Crimiel of defacing the two Lafayette churches in February 2011. Crimiel allegedly tried to frame his ex-girlfriend for the damage.
Prosecutors said notes with "hate-filled language" also were strewn about the churches.
Crimiel pleaded guilty in October.