Mark Bartlett ordered to serve 10 years on probation for 2019 MLK Day confrontation
FORT LAUDERDALE -- The Broward County man who pulled a gun on a group of Black teen protesters on Martin Luther King Jr. Day four years ago on Tuesday accepted a plea deal following a confrontation with the participants.
Mark Bartlett, 55, pleaded guilty to five counts and was ordered to serve a total of 10 years of probation in connection with the 2019 incident. He was also ordered to not have contact with the victims and must serve over 300 hours of community service.
If Bartlett had not accepted the plea deal, he was facing up to 55 years in prison for the tirade directed towards the MLK holiday participants.
Bartlett was accused of hate crimes after investigators say he yelled racial slurs and brandished a gun at protesters.
He was initially charged with carrying a concealed firearm. More charges were added to include three counts of aggravated assault with prejudice and improperly exhibiting a firearm, along with carrying a concealed firearm.
The incident began during the annual "Wheels Up, Guns Down" event over Martin Luther King Junior weekend. That's when Bartlett was caught on cell phone video with a gun yelling racial slurs at a group of teenagers, who had been blocking traffic riding their bikes in protest of housing issues.
During the hearing Tuesday, Bartlett apologized to the court, saying he regretted his actions that day.
"I apologized for my conduct that day," said Bartlett reading a statement inside a Miami-Dade courtroom where the two young men who he confronted four years ago sat on a bench.
"I was wrong to use those words and direct the pain that my words have caused anyone around or anyone in the vicinity," read in a remorse statement to Deante Joseph and Kidanys Cruz, the victims in the case.
The state attorney's office agreed to the plea agreement under certain conditions, "Bartlett will complete 300 community service hours, he will not be allowed to carry a gun; he will enter a complete anger management classes. Bartlett cannot contact the victims ever while on probation, and should defendant violate any of the terms of this agreement, the defendant can be sentenced to up to 55 years in state prison."
Judge Alberto Milian said Tuesday, he would not have accepted the plea deal without the victims agreeing to it.
"The message is clear, that we will tolerate bigotry or racism and whether it was sincere or not Mr. Bartlett acknowledged his wrongdoing and apologized to the victims and some other aspects of the case and made the victim feel that his apology was sincere and they wanted to accept it," said Marwan Porter, from Miami Dade State Attorney's Office.
However, CBS News Miami's Ivan Taylor asked the victims if they were glad about the outcome.
"To be honest I'm not really happy, they should have put the belt on him all the way, no remorse because if it was the other way around, they would have put it on us," said Deante Joseph, one of the two young men who four years ago was a teenager.
Meanwhile, Bartlett and his attorney stormed out of court without responding any questions from reporters.