Four people who
were accused of brutally beating a nightclub singer and
recording artist while yelling antigay slurs pleaded guilty
Wednesday to assault charges. The four began following
Kevin Aviance around 1:30 a.m. on June 10, 2006, after
he left a gay bar in the city's East Village
neighborhood, calling him derogatory names, police said.
They threw two
garbage bags and a paint can at the singer before
attacking him and yelling antigay slurs, police said. The
defendants punched and kicked Aviance, 39, breaking
his jaw and causing other injuries, police said.
Passers-by yelled for the attack to stop, and when it
was over a man walked Aviance to a hospital.
Mayor Michael
Bloomberg denounced the attack as ''a disgrace.''
The four will be
sentenced in April and May. In exchange for their guilty
pleas Gerard Johnson, 17, will be sentenced to 15 years in
prison; Akino George and Jarell Sears, both 21, will
get eight-year prison terms; and Gregory Archie, 19,
receive a six-year sentence.
They had faced up
to 25 years in prison if they had been convicted of the
top-count first-degree assault as a hate crime. Designating
an offense a hate crime increases the sentence the
judge is allowed to impose.
Aviance, who
performs in drag, appeared on the Billboard dance
music charts in 2002 and 2004 with his songs ''Give It
Up'' and ''Alive.'' (Samuel Maull, AP)