La. man pleads guilty to hate crime arson

ALEXANDRIA, La., Oct. 14 (UPI) -- A Louisiana man pleaded guilty to arson and other crimes Tuesday just before he was to stand trial on hate-crime charges, federal prosecutors announced.

Johnny Mathis, 46, of Lecompte, pleaded guilty in Alexandria, La., federal court to chasing three Hispanic men from their rural home with a shotgun last year and then burning the house to the ground.

"These victims were targeted and subjected to acts of violence for no other reason than their race and national origin," U.S. Attorney Donald Washington said in a written statement.

Mathis lived across the street from the victims and later confessed he ran them out of their home because of their race, the Department of Justice said in the statement.

Mathis will be sentenced Jan. 13 to a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison, the statement said.