3 get prison time for Idaho hate crime beating

By Associated Press

Summary

A federal judge says three Idaho men convicted of hate crimes for beating a black man outside a Nampa Wal-Mart will serve time in prison.

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Story Published: Nov 3, 2009 at 6:07 PM PST

Story Updated: Nov 3, 2009 at 6:07 PM PST

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A federal judge says three Idaho men convicted of hate crimes for beating a black man outside a Nampa Wal-Mart will serve time in prison.

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge on Tuesday sentenced 23-year-old Michael Bullard to more than four years in prison, 24-year-old Richard Armstrong to more than three years in prison, and 23-year-old James Whitewater to a year and a half in prison.

Bullard and Armstrong were convicted of committing a hate crime in July. Whitewater pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate rights before the case went to trial.

Prosecutors said the three plotted an attack against Raylen Smith, then 24, after encountering him in the aisles of Wal-Mart on the Fourth of July, 2008. The trio beat him in the parking lot until he blacked out.