Man Gets 4-Year Sentence For Hate Crime In O.C.
WESTMINSTER (CBS) —In an unusual hate crime, a white man was sentenced Friday to a four-year prison sentence for attacking another white man.
A 20-year-old Huntington Beach man was sentenced for his role in the attack on another white male who came to the aid of a black female who the Huntington Beach man had been repeatedly harassing.
After pleading guilty to the crime, John Keihl DeLoach was sentenced to four years in prison.
He pleaded guilty after agreeing to a plea deal offered by Orange County Superior Court Judge Debra Carrillo.
Deputy District Attorney Israel Claustro said his office sought a term of five years and four months in state prison, but was satisfied with the sentence.
"It appeared to be a reasonable amount of time," in prison, Claustro said.
"Essentially, we continue to prosecute hate crimes in our office extremely vigorously," he added. "In this instance, the victim was a white man who was protecting his African-American female friend. Unfortunately, this still happens in this day and age."
DeLoach, who was convicted of residential burglary last year, could have faced up to seven years and four months in prison had he been convicted at
trial.
DeLoach was driving by a Huntington Beach convenience store when he saw
a black woman in the shop the afternoon of Sept. 1 and reacted by turning up his car stereo so she could hear a song with explicitly racist anti-black lyrics, the prosecutor said.
About 9:40 that same night, while the woman was walking to a friend's Huntington Beach apartment with a white male friend, DeLoach ran into her again, Claustro said.
DeLoach recognized the woman from earlier in the day and reportedly insulted her with racial slurs and declared that interracial relationships were "wrong," Claustro said.
DeLoach and another man, who was not identified, ran up to the woman and
continued yelling at her until she said, "What, dude?" Claustro said.
DeLoach told her white male friend to "control his bitch," and then punched him when he stepped in between DeLoach and his friend, Claustro said.
When the woman's friend fell down, DeLoach kicked him twice in the back,
Claustro said. The man suffered a bruise on the side of his head from his fall.
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