Two women have pleaded guilty in connection with a series of attacks on African-Americans in Mississippi that included running over and killing a man.
helbie Brooke Richards and Sarah Adelia Graves, both 21, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Jackson to one count of conspiracy to violate the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act for their roles in a scheme to target African Americans in Jackson for violent assaults with dangerous weapons, including their roles in the murder of Anderson, who was run over by a Ford F250 truck driven by members of the conspiracy.
Shelbie Brooke Richards & Sarah Adelia Graves
The maximum penalty for this charge is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Richards also pleaded guilty to an additional count of misprision of a felony for her role in concealing information about the murder of Anderson from investigating authorities. The maximum penalty on that charge is three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Shelbie Brooke Richards and Sarah Adelia Graves each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the federal hate crime law. Richards also pleaded guilty to concealing from investigators information about James Craig Anderson’s killing. Both women are 21.
Anderson’s death outside a Jackson hotel in 2011 sparked a broader investigation into reports that young white men and women were driving from mostly white Rankin County into majority-black Jackson to assault African-Americans.
Six others also have pleaded guilty.
Richards’ statement said she encouraged one of those defendants to hit Anderson with his truck, then lied to investigators about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment