CORONADO : Marines Sentenced in Attack on Gay
Two Marines pleaded guilty Friday to a misdemeanor hate crime and felony assault stemming from an attack on a gay man outside a Coronado bar.
Steven Louis Fair, 27, and David William Bell, 21, were immediately sentenced to three years probation by Superior Court Judge Allan J. Preckle.
The judge also ordered the men to spend one year in custody, but he said they could go free because they had already served about eight months in jail.
Sam Anker of San Diego was beaten, robbed and left in an alley behind the bar, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Luis Aragon. Aragon said a quirk in the law in effect last year prevented him from charging the men with a felony hate crime.
The prosecutor said military officials are planning to conduct their own proceedings and could discharge Fair and Bell from the service.
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