Mississippi Man Sentenced to 30 Years for Arson, Vandalism of Church

A Mississippi man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for vandalizing and setting fire to a church in Wiggins, Mississippi.

Stefan Day Rowold, 37, was sentenced to 360 months in prison after a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi found him guilty of six counts of federal arson and civil rights violations following a trial in September 2025.

According to evidence presented at trial, Rowold vandalized and set fire to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on two separate occasions—July 5 and July 7, 2024. Prosecutors said Rowold targeted the church because of his hostility toward what he believed were the congregation’s religious views.

Rowold confessed to law enforcement that he broke into the church, spray-painted hateful messages on the interior walls, and ignited a fire in a multipurpose room. He used church hymnals, paintings, and other religious items as kindling. After learning that the first fire did not destroy the building, Rowold returned two days later—after authorities had attempted to secure the property—and started a second fire inside the church.

As a result of the damage, church members were unable to hold services in the building for several months. The court ordered Rowold to pay $176,564 in restitution to cover repair costs.

“Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of the defendant’s reprehensible conduct,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Anyone who attacks a house of worship in America will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”The case was investigated by the FBI’s Jackson Field Office with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the Mississippi State Fire Marshal, and the Wiggins Police Department.

The prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Buckner and Trial Attorney Chloe Neely of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.