Associated Press - October 13, 2009 6:14 PM ET

ALEXANDRIA, La. (AP) - A Louisiana man has pleaded guilty to firing a shotgun at the home of 3 Hispanic men and setting fire to their house in a racially motivated attack.

The Justice Department says 46-year-old Johnny Mathis, of Lecompte, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Only minutes before a trial was to start, Mathis pleaded guilty Tuesday to interfering with the victims' fair housing rights and using a firearm during a violent crime.

Mathis lived across the street from the victims. In June 2008, he fired three shotgun blasts at their house, then burned it down after they fled.

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