Man Gets 2 Years for Hate E-Mail

A former Cal Poly Pomona student who sent threatening e-mail messages to Latinos at universities, corporations and government agencies around the country was sentenced Monday to two years at a federal “boot camp” for young offenders.

Kingman Quon, 22, apologized in court “for letting my immaturity get the best of me” when he sent the hate messages with threatening ethnic slurs and denunciations of affirmative action.

Quon, a Chinese American from Corona, pleaded guilty this year to misdemeanor hate crime violations in a deal with prosecutors.

His attorney, Joseph T. Gibbons Jr., told U.S. District Judge Edward M. Rafeedie on Monday that Quon was under “extreme pressure” to complete a school project he had undertaken with a Latino classmate.

“Apparently, the other fellow wasn’t fulfilling his part,” Gibbons said.

In response, Quon admitted sending hate messages to Latino faculty members at Cal State L.A., students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and employees at Indiana University, Xerox Corp., the Texas Hispanic Journal, the Internal Revenue Service and NASA’s Ames Research Center.

Quon picked his targets at random by looking for Hispanic surnames on the Internet.

One recipient was Assemblywoman Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), a Cal State L.A. psychology instructor.

Romero addressed the court before Quon’s sentencing, the only victim to do so. She said the anonymous message made her feel that she was being “hunted down.” When she arrived at the campus afterward, she said, she found herself looking over her shoulder wondering whether her pursuer might be another faculty member or student.

After the hearing, Quon walked up to Romero in the spectator gallery and apologized for his conduct. The assemblywoman said later that she is prepared to forgive him.