CHICAGO (AP)--Avowed white supremacist Matthew Hale was sentenced to 40 years
in prison Wednesday for trying to have a federal judge killed.
Hale, 33, the self-described Pontifex Maximus of a group that preaches racial
holy war, showed no emotion and sat staring at the defense table as the
sentence was handed down. He earlier delivered a rambling statement in which he
insisted that no crime had been committed.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-06-05 1336ET- - 01 36 PM EDT 04-06-05
"Mr. Hale is not concerned about taking someone's life, but rather how to do
it without getting caught," U.S. District Judge James Moody said in imposing
the sentence. "I consider Mr. Hale to be extremely dangerous and the offense
for which he was convicted to be extremely egregious."
Hale was convicted in April 2004 of soliciting an undercover FBI informant to
murder U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow of Chicago in retaliation for
her ruling against him in a trademark dispute.
Prosecutors said Hale was furious that Lefkow ordered him to stop using the
World Church of the Creator name for his group. Lefkow said the name was
trademarked by an Oregon-based church group.
The hearing comes weeks after Lefkow's husband and elderly mother were shot
and killed in the Lefkow home. Early suspicion fell on Hale followers but days
later a Chicago man disgruntled over a ruling in his medical malpractice
lawsuit fatally shot himself in Wisconsin and confessed to the slayings in a
note.
Hale acted as his own attorney during the sentencing, as he had for much of
the trial. He compared himself to Lefkow, saying they were both victims.
"Before you does stand a man who not only is innocent, not only is
demonstrably innocent, but who refused to join a plot against Judge Lefkow's
life," Hale said.
in prison Wednesday for trying to have a federal judge killed.
Hale, 33, the self-described Pontifex Maximus of a group that preaches racial
holy war, showed no emotion and sat staring at the defense table as the
sentence was handed down. He earlier delivered a rambling statement in which he
insisted that no crime had been committed.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-06-05 1336ET- - 01 36 PM EDT 04-06-05
"Mr. Hale is not concerned about taking someone's life, but rather how to do
it without getting caught," U.S. District Judge James Moody said in imposing
the sentence. "I consider Mr. Hale to be extremely dangerous and the offense
for which he was convicted to be extremely egregious."
Hale was convicted in April 2004 of soliciting an undercover FBI informant to
murder U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow of Chicago in retaliation for
her ruling against him in a trademark dispute.
Prosecutors said Hale was furious that Lefkow ordered him to stop using the
World Church of the Creator name for his group. Lefkow said the name was
trademarked by an Oregon-based church group.
The hearing comes weeks after Lefkow's husband and elderly mother were shot
and killed in the Lefkow home. Early suspicion fell on Hale followers but days
later a Chicago man disgruntled over a ruling in his medical malpractice
lawsuit fatally shot himself in Wisconsin and confessed to the slayings in a
note.
Hale acted as his own attorney during the sentencing, as he had for much of
the trial. He compared himself to Lefkow, saying they were both victims.
"Before you does stand a man who not only is innocent, not only is
demonstrably innocent, but who refused to join a plot against Judge Lefkow's
life," Hale said.
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