Carva White, candyman preacher, gets 12 years for arson scheme

Itinerant preacher Carva White entered the courtroom with a cane in his hand and his ankles in bracelets, equipment that indicated both his frailty and taste for crime.

White, 46, was working as the music director at a church in Leavenworth when he devised an arson scheme. He set fire to Sunflower Missionary Baptist Church on Halloween in 2008. White started the blaze with the intention of scamming an insurance company. A week before setting the fire, White informed the church’s minister of a plan to collect kickbacks from contractors who would submit inflated bids for the repair work.

White made two attempts to get a fire going when it looked like the first set of flames did less than $30,000 in damage.