Jailed Joliet Racist Back in Court

The white supremacist arrested by FBI agents on charges he torched the home of a black family while nine people were inside appeared in court Wednesday for what an official called a "routine status hearing."

Brian Moudry, 35, has been locked up at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago since his on charges of arson, using fire to interfere with housing rights on the basis of race and using fire to commit another felony.

Moudry, 35, allegedly set fire to the home of a black family as they slept in June 2007. The eight children and one adult inside the house at the time escaped the blaze without injury.

Two other men who had been drinking with Moudry the night before the fire were arrested in the immediate aftermath of the blaze. Moudry was not arrested.

One of the men was released without charge soon after his arrest. The other had an arson case pending against him for nearly nine months before prosecutors dropped it.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office has declined to confirm or deny whether these men will be called to testify against Moudry.

One of two men could not be reached for comment. The other, the one who was up on arson charges for nine months, said he did not know if he will testify in the case.

Moudry is a disciple of incarcerated white power leader Matt Hale, who was imprisoned for plotting to kill U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow.

In March 2005, federal agents hauled Moudry and some of his associates in for questioning after Hale was suspected of ordering the execution-style slayings of Judge Humphrey Lefkow's husband and mother. The killings turned out to be unrelated to Hale, Moudry or their group.