Man Sentenced to Prison for Racial Confrontations

A Glendale man was sentenced Monday to two years in federal prison for trying to drive an interracial family out of their predominantly white neighborhood.

U.S. District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew said Steven Alexander’s actions were “not acceptable in a civilized society.”

He rejected an appeal by the 20-year-old school dropout to be sentenced to the 14 months he already has spent behind bars.

Lew also barred Alexander from associating with white supremacists during a year of supervised release after his prison term.

Alexander and his brother, Philip, 22, were accused of making racially motivated threats in 1998 against Susan Shumate, who is white, and her two sons and boyfriend, who are African American, during two confrontations on the streets of their La Crescenta neighborhood.

The defense maintained that the confrontations were not racially motivated and were provoked by one of Shumate’s sons.

While convicting Steven Alexander on the two misdemeanor counts, a federal jury deadlocked on felony civil rights charges against both brothers. Each could have faced a 10-year prison term.

The panel also acquitted Philip Alexander on one misdemeanor count and deadlocked on a second. Federal prosecutors subsequently agreed not to refile the housing rights case against Philip Alexander on condition that he enter a court-supervised diversion program.