Billy James Hammett, Hate Crimes, California 2013
A 30-year-old Marysville, California man has been sentenced to 87 months in prison for violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in a 2011 racially motivated attack against a white man and an African-American woman.
Billy James Hammett pleaded guilty on December 17, 2013, and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez to serve 87 months in prison for violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
The court also ordered Hammett to pay $175 in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence.
According to documents filed with the court, around 10:45 p.m. on April 18, 2011, a white man and an African-American woman parked their car at a convenience store in Marysville.
Shortly afterward, Hammett, along with his co-defendants Perry Sylvester Jackson and Anthony Merrell Tyler, attacked the man and woman based on race.
The three defendants, each of whom has white supremacist tattoos, assaulted the victims in public and attacked them because of their race, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division.
The victims suffered injuries during the assault, with the woman bruising her chest and the man sustaining abrasions on his right forearm and knees.
Hammett's attack on the victims was 'unprovoked and unwarranted,' said Judge Mendez during the sentencing hearing.
Hammett's background and criminal history, which includes a conviction in 2006 for assaulting a 72-year-old black man, also in Marysville, were also considered during the sentencing.
Hammett has been affiliated with a number of white supremacist gangs, including Supreme White Power, and has tattoos of the words 'white power' across his abdomen, a large swastika on the right side of his torso, and the word 'skinhead' written across the top of his back.
Judge Mendez stated during the sentencing hearing that Hammett poses 'a serious threat to the public.'
Hammett's co-defendants, Perry Sylvester Jackson and Anthony Merrell Tyler, have also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing, with Jackson scheduled to be sentenced on April 22, 2014, and Tyler scheduled to be sentenced on July 8, 2014.
Each defendant faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
The case was investigated by the FBI with the assistance of the Yuba County Sheriff's Office and the Yuba County District Attorney's Office.
The case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner and Trial Attorney Chiraag Bains of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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