TEXAS
A federal judge sentenced Anthony Shelton, 20, and Cameron Ajiduah, 19, this week to 20 and 15 years in prison, respectively, for hate-crime assault against a gay man, according to officials.
The indictment states that from Jan. 17 to Feb. 7, 2017, the defendants committed home invasions in Plano, Frisco, and Aubrey, Texas.
For each of the four home invasions, the defendants used Grindr, a social media dating platform for gay men, to falsely identify as a gay man and arrange to meet the victim at the victim’s home.
Upon entering the victim’s home, the defendants assaulted the victim, restrained the victim with tape, and made derogatory statements about the victim being gay.
The defendants possessed a firearm during each home invasion, and they stole the victim’s property, including his motor vehicle.
A federal grand jury previously had returned an eighteen-count superseding indictment that included charges for hate crimes, kidnappings, carjackings, and the use of firearms to commit violent crimes.
The indictment also charged Shelton, Ajiduah, along with other defendants, Nigel Garrett and Chancler Encalade, with conspiring to cause bodily injury because of their victims’ sexual orientation during home invasions in Plano, Frisco, and Aubrey, Texas, from Jan. 17 to Feb. 7, 2017.
All four defendants subsequently pleaded guilty to hate crime charges from this indictment, and admitted that they targeted victims because of their sexual orientation.
Earlier this year, Garrett was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and Encalade was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison.
“The Department of Justice will not tolerate any act of violence targeting individuals based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, race, color, religion, disability, or national origin,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Civil Rights Division. “The Department will continue to investigate and prosecute hate crimes cases.”
“This case highlights the danger of the internet and specifically, online apps,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown for the Eastern District of Texas. “In this case, the defendants misused the internet for sinister purposes in order to target an innocent man based on his sexual orientation, causing him bodily harm and damage to his property.”