CHICAGO, April 22 (UPI) -- A racially-diverse jury is deliberating the fate of self-avowed white supremacist Matt Hale, who is charged with soliciting the murder of a federal judge.
Hale, 32, is charged with two counts of soliciting the killing of U.S. District Judge Jon Humphrey Lefkow and three counts of obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors said Hale was angered when Lefkow ruled another group held the trademark to the name World Church of the Creator and ordered Hale to stop using the name. The case rests on secretly recorded audiotapes made by Hale's bodyguard and chief of security. Hale's defense lawyer says the bodyguard was a federal mole and provocateur.
Hale could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
The group, now called the Creativity Movement, is best known for the 1999 Fourth of July weekend shooting spree by follower Benjamin Smith that killed two people and wounded nine in Illinois and Indiana.
