11/03/09

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 prison time.

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge sentenced 23-year-old Michael
Bullard to more than four years in prison, 24-year-old Richard
Armstrong to more than 3 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.


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