AUSTIN, Texas — A 20-year-old Texas man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday for setting fire to an Austin synagogue in 2021.
Earlier this year, Franklin Sechriest pleaded guilty to charges of arson and a hate crime causing damage to religious property after the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Central Austin was set on fire on Halloween in 2021. Prosecutors asked for a 10-year sentence, citing what they called Sechriest’s “deeply held” antisemitic and racist beliefs.
Prosecutors said he had committed other racially motivated crimes and demonstrated a “capacity to lie and manipulate.” A judge said he would recommend that Sechriest be housed at a federal medical facility.