INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A Birmingham, Alabama, man was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison after he traveled to Connersville, Indiana, to commit arson at the home of his father, a city councilor, the U.S. Department of Justice says.

A grand jury in February 2022 indicted Tommy Lee Harrison Sr. on a charge of interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises. A DOJ news release issued Wednesday says Harrison Sr. is age 34, and an older news release says he’s 37.

Court records show Harrison left Birmingham on Oct. 28, 2021, to travel to Connersville, where his father lived with his family and pets. Harrison stopped at a Walmart in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where he bought black spray paint.

Harrison arrived at his father’s Connersville home early the next morning. Harrison’s father, Tommy Lee Williams Jr., is a Connersville City Council member.

Williams Jr. and his wife were out of town when the fire happened. FBI investigators had initially considered the fire a possible hate crime because a racial slur was spray-painted on the house, the Williamses are an interracial couple, and he is the only Black member of the City Council.

Surveillance video captured Harrison Sr. parking near his father’s home, leaving his car to put a container on the ground, and then driving away, prosecutors alleged. He returned about 20 minutes later and circled the house for about 20 minutes before backing his car into the yard.

Over the next hour, prosecutors alleged, Harrison Sr. used gasoline to ignite fires inside and outside his father’s home, severely damaging the master bedroom and leaving the children’s bedrooms uninhabitable. Their cat and dog were killed.

Harrison Sr. also used the spray paint to deface the property with a racial slur, investigators determined. He then left and returned to Alabama, where he was later arrested.

Federal authorities do not provide jail booking photos.

Statement

“This defendant’s actions had a devastating impact not only on the immediate victims, but on the community of Connersville as well. His actions uprooted a family, destroyed their peace of mind, and shook the small town in which his father was a prominent community leader.

“Crossing state lines to commit a violent crime is a serious offense that merits a serious federal prison sentence. Thanks to the talents and persistence of investigators at the FBI, the Indiana Fire Marshal’s Office, and our federal prosecutor, this arsonist was successfully identified and held accountable.”

Zachary A. Myers, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, based in Indianapolis