Two men, Paul Beebe and Jesse Sanford of Farmington, New Mexico, were sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a racially-motivated assault on a 22-year-old developmentally disabled man of Navajo descent.
On November 2010, they were indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy and one count of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Beebe pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Shepard/Byrd Act, and Sanford pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit a violation of the Shepard/Byrd Act.
On August 2011, during their plea hearing, Beebe and Sanford admitted that Beebe took the victim to his apartment, which was adorned in racist paraphernalia, including a Nazi flag and a woven dream catcher with a swastika in it.
After the victim had fallen asleep, the defendants began defacing the victim’s body by drawing on him with blue, red and black markers. Once the victim awoke, Beebe branded the victim, who sat with a towel in his mouth, by heating a wire hanger on a stove and burning the victim’s flesh, causing a permanent deep impression of a swastika in his skin.
The defendants used a cell phone to create a recording of the victim in which they coerced him to agree to be branded.
On today, Beebe was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison followed by three years supervised release, and Sanford was sentenced to five years in prison followed by three years supervised release.
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas E. Perez said, “The sentence imposed today by the court reflects the hateful and heinous nature of the defendants’ actions, and serves as a reminder of courage of the victim who survived those acts and reported these crimes.”
U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Kenneth J. Gonzales stated, “Today the court sentenced Paul Beebe and Jesse Sanford to significant terms of imprisonment for the inexcusable crime of assaulting, branding and scarring a young man simply because he happened to be a Native American.”
The FBI’s Albuquerque Division worked closely with local law enforcement to investigate the case, with Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee saying, “Today’s sentencing is the result of the hard work of FBI special agents and our law enforcement partners, who were committed to pursuing justice until the perpetrators of this hate crime answered for their actions.”
Related Federal Cases
- Jason K. Thompson, Assault by Strangulation and Assault with a Deadly Weapon, New Mexico 2025 · Texas
- Preston Marmolejo, Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, New Mexico 2013 · New Mexico
- Terrence Fred Cachini, Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, New Mexico 2015 · New Mexico
- Henderson Castillo, Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to Do Bodily Harm, New Mexico 2015 · Puerto Rico
- Chelsey A. Billy, Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, New Mexico 2016 · Colorado
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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