Laboy-Garcia and Rivera-Otero, Hate Crime, Puerto Rico 2020
Men Plead Guilty to Hate Crime and Obstruction of Justice Charges
On February 24, 2020, Jordany Rafael Laboy-Garcia and Christian Yamaurie Rivera-Otero, along with their former co-defendant Anthony Steven Lobos-Ruiz, were involved in an assault with a dangerous weapon against a transgender woman because of her gender identity in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
According to court documents, the defendants recognized the victim, identified as A.N.L., from social media posts concerning an incident that had occurred the day prior at a McDonald's in Toa Baja. During that incident, A.N.L. had used a stall in the McDonald's women's restroom.
The defendants then decided to get a paintball gun to shoot A.N.L. and record another iPhone video. Within 30 minutes, they retrieved a paintball gun and returned to the location where they had last seen A.N.L., who was still at that location. Lobos-Ruiz then used his iPhone to record Laboy-Garcia shooting at A.N.L. multiple times with the paintball gun.
Following the assault, Rivera-Otero and Lobos-Ruiz exchanged text messages, in which they told each other to delete the evidence of their harassment and paintball gun assault of A.N.L., in order to conceal their involvement. Following this message exchange, Lobos-Ruiz deleted the videos on his iPhone of himself yelling at A.N.L. and of Laboy-Garcia firing paintballs at A.N.L.
Labor-Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit a hate crime and admitted that he shot paintballs at A.N.L. because she was, and was perceived to be, transgender. Rivera-Otero pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and admitted to directing his co-defendant to delete video recordings of the assault and harassment of A.N.L.
As part of the plea agreement, the defendants are being held accountable for assaulting a transgender woman because of her gender identity and then trying to obstruct an investigation into that assault. The Justice Department remain steadfast in its commitment to investigate and prosecute those who target LGBTQI+ people with acts of violence.
The defendants' sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. The case highlights the reprehensible behavior that will not be tolerated, and the Justice Department will continue to vigorously defend the rights of all people, regardless of their gender identity, to be free from hate-fueled violence.
Key Facts
- State: Puerto Rico
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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