A pair of Atlanta men who became the first convicted of federal hate crimes against sexual orientation in Georgia were sentenced Wednesday to 10 months in prison, to be served at the same time as their state criminal convictions resulting from the same act.
In a video that went viral nationwide in February 2012, Dorian Moragne and Christopher Caine were among a group in the so-called Jack City street gang that attacked and robbed 20-year-old Brandon White while shouting anti-gay slurs at him.
The federal law criminalizes certain acts of violence motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender or gender identity. This case is the first in Georgia to charge a violation of the sexual orientation section of the federal hate crimes law.
In April, Caine, 19, and Moragne, 21, pleaded guilty to targeting and attacking White because of his sexual orientation.
The men — along with Dareal Damare Williams, who was 18 at the time of and considered a juvenile by federal officials and not charged with the hate crime — surrounded and repeatedly punched and kicked White outside a corner market in Atlanta’s Pittsburg community on Feb. 4, 2012.
Moragne even hit White with an abandoned tire. Then the three stole White’s phone while another individual recorded the incident using a cell phone camera.
In addition to the federal sentencing, Moragne and Caine were sentenced to five years behind bars and five years of probation for charges in Fulton County that included aggravated assault, robbery by force, theft by receiving stolen property and obstruction.
Williams received the same sentence in July 2012 as his co-defendants.
Both Caine and Moragne will also serve three years of supervised released, according to federal court records.
They have been in the Fulton County jail since February 2012 and will receive credit for the 18 months they’ve served, federal court officials said.
