Hate-Crime Charges Filed in Stabbing
A Yorba Linda man already in state custody was indicted Thursday on federal hate-crime charges in connection with the stabbing of an African American teenager three years ago in Buena Park, prosecutors said.
Jeffrey Stuart Martin, 24, is being held on $100,000 bail at the Theo Lacy Branch Jail in Orange on unrelated charges of possessing a controlled substance while armed and possessing a firearm as a felon, jail officials said.
In the indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, federal prosecutors allege that Martin was a member of a group called Insane White Boys in October 1996 when he attacked a 16-year-old who was walking home from work in Buena Park. He allegedly yelled racial obscenities at the youth, then stabbed him once in the side, investigators said.
“The victim was walking down the street minding his own business when he got attacked after being sworn at and told to get out of the area,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Warren said. “He survived and was taken to a hospital.”
Warren said federal prosecutors will ask state officials to transfer Martin to federal custody.
If convicted, Martin faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and a $200,000 fine.
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