A man who burned down a Missouri church has been sentenced to more than 9 years in prison

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — A man who admitted in federal court to setting the fire that destroyed an eastern Missouri church has been sentenced to more than nine years in prison and ordered to pay the church nearly $7 million.

The sentence for Christopher Scott Pritchard, 49, was imposed Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp over the April 2021 fire at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints building in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) southeast of St. Louis. Pritchard pleaded guilty in December to one felony count of arson and another felony count of arson to a building used in interstate commerce.

The federal public defender representing Pritchard declined comment Wednesday.

The interstate commerce charge came with a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years, and the judge ordered Pritchard to serve nine years and three months. Prosecutors dropped two other felony charges involving damage to religious property.

Authorities have said that two days before the fire, Pritchard threatened to assault a bishop and “burn the church down.” Officers found more than $1,000 in items belonging to the church in Pritchard’s backpack, including a laptop, tools and 21 apples, and he smelled like smoke, police said.