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Former Elmhurst College Student Guilty Of Scrawling Racist Graffiti

WHEATON, Ill. (CBS) -- A former Elmhurst College student has been convicted of a hate crime, for carving racist epithets outside a dorm at the school.

Following a one-day bench trial, DuPage County Judge George Bakalis found Myles Burton, 21, guilty of scrawling graffiti that was hostile to African-Americans on a window ledge outside an Elmhurst College dormitory room in December 2011.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's David Roe reports

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Burton, of the 1800 block of South Cardinal Court in Libertyville, walked up to the dorm about 11:25 p.m. on Dec. 8, 2011, and carved slurs -- including "KKK" and "Negro" -- onto the ledge in the 100 block of South Prospect Avenue in Elmhurst, according to the DuPage County State's Attorney's office.

Burton was arrested the next day without incident. A grand jury indicted him on Dec. 29, 2011, and Bakalis found him guilty after a one-day bench trial, prosecutors said.

He faces up to five years in prison and a pre-sentencing hearing is set for June 19.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.

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