A federal judge yesterday denied a request for a compassionate release for Michael Jacques, the man convicted of burning down a church in Springfield.
Jacques was sentenced to about 14 years in federal prison after a trial in 2011 for the arson of the Macedonia Church of God in Christ after he and several others were said to be upset about the election of the first black president in the United States, Barack Obama, in 2008.
Judge Michael Ponsor says that Jaques petition did not did provide the level of proof that there was a medical necessity to be released from the federal prison system.
Jacques who is expected to be released some time in 2023 had sought to finish his sentence as part of home confinement because of the pandemic.
Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno publicly objected to the requested release.