A 25-year-old New
York State man was sentenced Tuesday to 5-1/2 years
behind bars after pleading guilty to attacking a gay man in
March.
Judge Richard
Keenan added a year and a half to the sentence that Jesse
Parsons was originally expected to receive after he made a
plea agreement in September, according to the
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. He pleaded
guilty to second-degree assault, which, as a hate
crime, would have landed him up to 15 years in prison.
However, the
four-year sentence was voided when Parsons said in open
court in November that Lance Neve deserved the attack.
Keenan threw out the plea deal, saying that Parsons
would go to trial for the original charge of
second-degree assault committed as a hate crime. Parsons
then opted to stand by his plea but take a longer
sentence. He was also ordered to pay $24,000 in
medical expenses for 26-year-old Neve. Both men are
Spencerport residents.
Neve told police
that he and his partner were at Snuggery's Bar in
Spencerport March 8 when Parsons taunted them with
antigay remarks before he attacked Neve, who suffered
bleeding on his brain as well as fractures to his
skull, nose, left eye socket, and jaw. (Michelle Garcia,
Advocate.com)
