HOUSTON — Three white men convicted of attacking a black man at a Houston bus stop last summer have received prison sentences ranging from 2 1/2 years to more than six years in the first Texas case to fall under a federal hate-crime law.
The longest sentence ordered Monday by a federal judge was a 77-month term for 33-year-old Brian Kerstetter. Charles Cannon received a 37-month sentence, and Michael McLaughlin was sentenced to 30 months.
McLaughlin, 41, and Kerstetter apologized in court. An attorney for the Cannon, 26, said his client was sorry.
A jury found the men guilty in April.
Investigators say the victim was punched and kicked while waiting for a bus.
All three men faced up to 10 years in prison under a law passed in 2009.