LOCAL : Man Sentenced for Cross Burning
A Westminster man who admitted he has “a lot of problems with black people” was sentenced to 37 months in prison today for setting fire to a cross on the lawn of a black family in Westminster.
Gary A. Skillman, 24, terrorized Alvin Heisser, his wife and two children by burning the cross in the family’s yard July 28, 1988. It was the first in a series of hate crimes against blacks, Latinos, Asians and Jews in the Indian Village area of Westminster.
Skillman was sentenced to prison by U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts. A federal jury convicted him Jan. 4 of conspiracy to violate the civil rights of citizens, using intimidation to interfere with housing rights and using fire to commit a felony.
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