JACKSON, Miss. – Three people have been sentenced to federal prison following a hate crimes investigation stemming from the death of a black man who was beaten and run over by a truck.
U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves on Tuesday sentenced Deryl Paul Dedmon to 50 years; John Aaron Rice to 18 ½ years; and Dylan Wade Butler to seven years. They were charged in the June 2011 death of James Craig Anderson.
The inquiry that followed Anderson's death revealed a group of young white people had been coming to Jackson to harass and assault African-Americans.
The three pleaded guilty in March 2012 to one count of conspiracy and one count of committing a hate crime.
Dedmon pleaded guilty to two state charges in 2012 and received life sentences on each.
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