COLUMBUS, Ohio – A man has pleaded guilty to a civil rights charge in the case of a wooden cross bearing a racial slur that was burned in the yard of a black Ohio family.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker says one of people's most basic rights is to be safe in their homes and calls the case a tragedy for everyone.
The Columbus Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/xVaQbo ) that 20-year-old Brandon Rhodes, who pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to threaten the rights of an individual, now faces 10 years in prison.
A federal complaint alleged Rhodes and a juvenile co-conspirator, who are white, also wrote "KKK will make you pay" on the cross burned in Morrow County last March.
The juvenile pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts of aggravated menacing.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
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