An inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville has been sentenced to six additional years under a federal hate crime law for assaulting a fellow gay inmate.
John Hall, 27, an Aryan Brotherhood member, had 71 months added on to his sentence Thursday by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor after he pleaded guilty to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act on Nov. 8. He will serve the added time consecutively with the sentence he is currently serving.
Hall punched, kicked and stomped on the inmate’s faces several times and used a dangerous weapon while calling him homophobic slurs on Dec. 20, 2011, because he believed he was gay or involved in a asexual relationship with another inmate, according to a White House press release.
Hall beat the inmate until he lost consciousness, fracturing his eye socket and causing multiple lacerations to his face. He also lost a tooth and fractured other teeth.
After an investigation by the Dallas FBI division, Hall pleaded guilty to the biased assault in November.
“This prosecution sends a clear message that this office, in partnership with attorneys in the department’s Civil Rights Division, will prioritize and aggressively prosecute hate crimes and others civil rights violations in North Texas,” said U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.
