3 to plead guilty in Ala. church arsons

Three former college students accused of setting nine rural Alabama churches ablaze in February will plead guilty to federal charges, a court filing Monday said.

Matthew Cloyd, Russell Lee Debusk and Benjamin Nathan Moseley are scheduled to enter their pleas in a court Wednesday, according to the filing by U.S. Magistrate Judge John Ott.

The court filing did not indicate the plea details, including the charges and possible prison sentences.

Cloyd's attorney, Tommy Spina, said the plea will include substantial prison time for the men, who went from being well known on campus to being inmates of the Shelby County Jail.

At the time of the indictment in March, prosecutors said each man faced a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 if convicted on the federal conspiracy and arson counts.

They were charged in a string of five church fires in Bibb County, south of Birmingham, on Feb. 3 and four in west Alabama on Feb. 7. They are charged with the Bibb fires, while Cloyd and Moseley are charged with the other four.

Prosecutors said the first fires resulted from a night of drinking and illegal hunting that got out of hand. The second night of fires was described in court filings as an attempt to throw the investigation off course.

The three defendants also face state arson counts. Defense attorneys are talking with prosecutors, but there is no plea agreement yet, Spina said.