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INDIANA MAN SENTENCED TO OVER 42 YEARS FOR

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Jay Scott Ballinger, 38, of Yorktown, Indiana, was sentenced to 42 years, 7 months imprisonment by U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Barker in Indianapolis today following his guilty pleas on July 11, 2000, to one count of conspiracy to commit arson and church arson, six counts of arson of a building in interstate commerce, twenty counts of church arson, and two counts of using fire to commit a federal felony announced Timothy M. Morrison, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Bill Lann Lee, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, and James E. Johnson, Treasury Under Secretary for Enforcement. This case was the result of a nationwide investigation conducted by the National Church Arson Task Force, including investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, investigators from the Indiana State Fire Marshal's Office, and numerous state and local fire investigators around the United States.

Ballinger's sentence was a result of his guilty plea to the following charges:

• Southern District of Indiana 1 count conspiracy to commit arson / church arson 3 counts arson of a building in interstate commerce

• 8 counts church arson 2 counts use of fire to commit a federal felony

• Eastern District of Tennessee 1 count church arson

• Central District of California 1 count arson of a building in interstate commerce Western District of Kentucky 4 counts church arson

• Eastern District of Missouri 1 count church arson

• District of South Carolina 1 count church arson

• Northern District of Indiana 1 count arson of a building in interstate commerce 2 counts church arson

• Southern District of Ohio 1 count arson of a building in interstate commerce 1 count church arson

• Northern District of Alabama 1 count church arson

• Northern District of Ohio 1 count church arson

Except for the case in the Southern District of Indiana, all of the other cases were previously filed by United States Attorneys Offices in the districts listed above. The cases were coordinated by the National Church Arson Task Force in Washington D.C. and then transferred to the Southern District of Indiana where Ballinger plead guilty to all of them.

"The rampage that resulted from the destructive acts of this one individual has ended," said Bill Lann Lee, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, and Co-Chair of the NCATF. "I hope that this sentence will help bring closure to those whose lives were harmed by these hateful acts, and sends a strong message that these crimes will not be tolerated. The federal government remains steadfast in our cooperative efforts to continue to prosecute each and every one of these incidents to the fullest extent of the law."

"We welcome today's sentence, which closes the case on the largest number of fires charged to a single defendant since President Clinton formed the National Church Arson Task Force in 1996," said James E. Johnson, Treasury Under Secretary for Enforcement. "While it cannot turn back the clock, it brings some measure of justice to the communities that were impacted by this serial arsonist, and demonstrates the impact of our collaborative efforts, which have resulted in the investigation of more than 980 arsons and the arrests of 450 defendants."

According to Assistant United States Attorney Susan Heckard Dowd, who prosecuted the case for the government, Judge Barker also imposed three years supervised release following BALLINGER's release from imprisonment. Ballinger was also ordered to make restitution in the amount of $3,554,388.56 to the victim churches.

Other documents previously filed in the District Court set forth facts of the arson fires set by Ballinger. Ballinger grew up in the Yorktown, Indiana area. Throughout his adult life, Ballinger traveled extensively throughout the United States, studying and practicing his religious beliefs as a Luciferian. Ballinger frequently expressed his hostility toward organized Christianity, signed individuals he met to contracts with the devil, and termed himself a Missionary of Lucifer and a Saint of Hades. In late 1993, Ballinger met an 18-year-old woman named Angela Wood with whom he soon entered into a romantic relationship. Ballinger and Wood traveled the country together, primarily living in motels on a short term basis. Wood obtained short-term employment as a nightclub dancer at various locations around the United States, in order to support them and pay their living expenses. Wood also assisted Ballinger in setting many of the church fires, primarily acting as a lookout so no one would see Ballinger set the fires, but also carrying gas cans and other supplies for Ballinger while he set the fires.

Ballinger's setting of church fires followed a distinct pattern. Most of the fires were set late at night or early in the morning. Most of the fires were set at isolated rural churches. On most occasions, Ballinger broke a window at the side or back of the church, poured a flammable mixture (usually gasoline) into the church, set the flammable mixture on fire with a lighter, then left the area.

The first church arson committed by Ballinger and Wood was at the Concord Church of Christ, Lebanon, Indiana, on January 10, 1994. This church was an approximately 100-year-old white frame church which was depicted in the opening scene of the movie "Hoosiers." The following is a listing of each of the 26 church fires for which Ballinger was sentenced today:

• January 10, 1994 Concord Church of Christ Lebanon, Indiana

• March 1, 1994 Liberty Baptist Church Kempton, Indiana

• July 1, 1994 Church of God at Angola Angola, Indiana

• July 8, 1994 Maranatha Baptist Church Versailles, Ohio

• July 11, 1994 First Eminence Baptist Church Eminence, Indiana

• September 25, 1995 South Shore American Baptist Church Dana Point, California

• October 27, 1996 Sunlight Baptist Church Eastaboga, Alabama

• December 22, 1996 Arm Oak Baptist Church Hardeeville, South Carolina July 28, 1997 Sumach United Methodist Church Wardell, Missouri November 13, 1997 Milledgeville United Methodist Church Milledgeville, Indiana

• April 21, 1998 Hawcreek Missionary Baptist Church Hope, Indiana

• June 10, 1998 Grace Baptist Church Coatesville, Indiana

• July 25, 1998 New Liberty Congregational Christian Church Lynn, Indiana

• September 10, 1998 Ebenezer Presbyterian Church Lewisville, Indiana

• November 20, 1998 Bethel Missionary Baptist Church Fillmore, Indiana

• November 27, 1998 Christian Liberty Church Sheridan, Indiana

• December 20, 1998 Mt. Eden Christian Church Little York, Indiana

• December 21, 1998 Bolton Schoolhouse Missionary Baptist Church Bonnieville, Kentucky

• December 22, 1998 Little Hurricane Primitive Baptist Church Manchester, Tennessee

• January 17, 1999 Cedar Grove Baptist Church Franklin, Kentucky

• January 18, 1999 Pleasant Hill Methodist Church Elkton, Kentucky

• January 18, 1999 New Harmony Baptist Church Morgantown, Kentucky

• January 23, 1999 Otterbein United Brethren Church Rockford, Ohio

• January 25, 1999 Stidham United Methodist Church Lafayette, Indiana

• January 30, 1999 Wabash Primitive Baptist Church Huntington, Indiana

• February 6, 1999 Community United Methodist Church Brookville, Ohio

Ballinger still faces federal charges in the Northern District of Georgia and the Middle District of Georgia for setting five church fires in Georgia in December 1998 and January 1999, including one in which a firefighter was killed while fighting the fire. Ballinger is currently being held in the Marion County Jail, and will be transported to Georgia to face the charges.

In a related case, Donald Puckett, of Lebanon, Indiana, pled guilty and was sentenced in September, 1999, to an arson charge for assisting Ballinger and Wood in setting the Concord Church of Christ fire in January 1999. Puckett is currently serving a 27-month sentence of imprisonment for his conviction, and is cooperating with the government.

Angela Wood pled guilty in November 1999 to one count of conspiracy to commit arson and church arson, one count of arson of a building in interstate commerce, four counts of church arson, and one count of use of fire to commit a federal felony. Wood is cooperating with the government in the cases against Ballinger and will be sentenced by Judge Barker tomorrow, November 15, 2000.

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