A Maine man was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Massachusetts in connection with a fire that destroyed a Black church in the city of Springfield.

According to the press release obtained by EBONY, Dushko Vulchev was indicted on four counts of damage to religious property involving fire and one count of use of fire to commit a federal felony. Previously, Vulchev was charged by a criminal complaint in April 2021.

On Dec. 28, 2020, law enforcement responded to a fire at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Presbyterian Church (MLK Church) which inflicted a tremendous amount of damage to the edifice. After the investigation, the authorities concluded that the fire was directly linked to other incidents, including “arsons and malicious damage to vehicles, that occurred on church property and the surrounding area”. Previously, a fire took place at the backdoor of the MLK Church on Dec. 13, 2020, and two additional fires were reported near the backdoor of the church on Dec. 15, 2020. After video surveillance was procured, it revealed Vulchev as the prime suspect.

When law enforcement searched Vulchev’s vehicle, they discovered several electronic storage devices that contained images of Vulchev displaying his hatred of Black people, including a “White Lives Matter” mural and a photo of Adolf Hitler. Allegedly, Vulchev’s devices also contained messages from December 2020 where he said “eliminate all n****s."

Court documents state that those familiar with Vulchev told the authorities that he was outspoken about his hatred of non-white people and routinely referred to Black people as  n****s.

Vulchev is facing 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 for charges of damage to religious property involving fire. Additionally, the use of fire to commit a federal felony comes with a prison sentence of at least 10 years according to federal law.