Man sentenced in Ark. house firebombing

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark., April 6 (UPI) -- An Arkansas man convicted in the firebombing of an interracial couple's home was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday, the Justice Department said.

Besides the 15-year prison sentence, Gary Dodson, 33, of Waldron, Ark., was sentenced to three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiring to violate a person's civil rights, criminal interference with housing rights because of race, and possession of an unregistered firearm/destructive device, the department said in a release.

In his guilty plea, Dodson admitted he was at a party where he and three other men -- Jake Murphy, Dustin Hammond and Jason Barnwell -- came up with a plan to firebomb the victims' house in Hardy, Ark. When they arrived, Barnwell, Murphy and Hammond threw three Molotov cocktails at the residence. Although the house was damaged, no one was injured.

Murphy and Hammond already pleaded guilty to conspiring to and violating the victims' civil rights, the Justice Department said. Both were sentenced to 54 months in jail and three years of supervised release.

Barnwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleaded guilty violating the victims' civil rights, using fire in the commission of the civil rights violation and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

Wendy Treybig, who co-hosted the Jan. 14, 2011, party with Barnwell, pleaded guilty to obstructing justice and was sentenced to 21 months in jail and three years of supervised release.

"With today's sentencing, we can finally close the book on this terrible incident of racial hatred," said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. "The sentence reflects the gravity of these kinds of crimes."