Department of Justice Seal Department of Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2003
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
CRT
(202) 514-2008
TDD (202) 514-1888

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES SENTENCING
IN PENNSYLVANIA CIVIL RIGHTS CASE


WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today announced the sentencing of a former Ku Klux Klan member on civil rights charges. Joseph J. Holleran was sentenced to 27 months incarceration by Judge John R. Padova in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Holleran, a self-avowed white supremacist, pleaded guilty to a two-count indictment charging him with conspiracy against civil rights in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 241 (carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years) and damaging federal property in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1361 (carrying a maximum penalty of 12 months).

During the course of the conspiracy, Holleran and an accomplice painted swastikas and other “white power” symbols on a number of physical structures in the King of Prussia area in October 1998. These included spray-painting a swastika on the Monument to the Patriots of African Descent at Valley Forge National Historical Park, as well as spray-painting a swastika as well as a “white power” symbol on the Temple Brith Achim in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

“The Justice Department remains deeply committed to vigorously investigating and prosecuting attacks against individuals,” said J. Michael Wiggins, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. “Perpetrators of racial violence will be brought to justice.”

Judge Padova was required to sentence Holleran within a range of 21 to 27 months incarceration under federal sentencing guidelines. In sentencing Holleran to 27 months incarceration, Judge Padova stated that the defendant’s desecration of the synagogue and monument was “a hateful demonstration” which resulted in “unending hurt” to the victims hurt by such actions. Judge Padova further stated that “a sentence must also be a demonstration,” and the nature of the defendant’s crime required him to send a message by sentencing the defendant to the maximum period of incarceration. In addition, the judge also ordered Holleran to pay restitution for damages and imposed a $2,500 fine.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania jointly investigated the matter. The case was prosecuted by trial attorneys from the Criminal Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

###

03-457