JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Three people were sentenced to federal prison Tuesday, following a hate crimes investigation stemming from the death of a black man who was beaten and run over by a truck in Mississippi.
U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves on Tuesday sentenced Deryl Paul Dedmon to 50 years; John Aaron Rice to 18 ½ years; and Dylan Wade Butler to seven years. They were charged in the June 2011 death of James Craig Anderson.
The inquiry that followed Anderson's death revealed a group of young white people had been coming to Jackson to harass and assault African-Americans.
The three pleaded guilty in March 2012 to one count of conspiracy and one count of committing a hate crime.
Dedmon pleaded guilty to two state charges in 2012 and received life sentences on each.
The judge said Dedmon's federal sentence will run concurrent with his state sentence.
Seven others are awaiting sentencing.
Reeves will sentence Joseph Paul Dominick, William Kirk Montgomery and Jonathan Kyle Gaskamp on Feb. 25. Dominick pleaded guilty to conspiracy in 2013 and faces five years in prison. Montgomery, who pleaded guilty in 2012, faces life in prison on a hate crime charge and five years on conspiracy. Gaskamp, who wasn't present the night Anderson died, pleaded guilty in 2012. He faces five years in prison for conspiracy and 10 years on a hate crime charge.
U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate will sentence four people:
— Sarah Adelia Graves, who pleaded guilty in December, faces five years in prison on a conspiracy charge at sentencing April 9.
— Shelbie Brooke Richards, who pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy and concealing the crime by lying to police, faces eight years in prison at sentencing April 16.
— John Louis Blalack, who pleaded guilty Jan. 7 to two hate crimes charges, faces 20 years in prison at sentencing April 23.
— Robert Henry Rice, who pleaded guilty Jan. 7 to one hate crime charge, faces 10 years in prison at sentencing April 30.
Copyright Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Support our reporting -- Follow the MFP.
