New York Paralegal Blog

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today the arrest of Sean Popejoy, 19, and Frankie Maybee, 20, both of Green Forest, Ark., on charges related to a racially-motivated assault on five Hispanic men. A federal grand jury in the Western District of Arkansas returned an indictment on April 5, 2011, charging Popejoy and Maybee with federal hate crime charges and conspiracy to commit a federal hate crime. According to the indictment, Popejoy and Maybee have been charged with one count of conspiracy and five counts of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was enacted in October 2009. Specifically, the indictment alleges that on June 20, 2010, the defendants yelled anti-Latino epithets at the victims while at a gas station parking lot. When the victims drove away, the defendants chased after them in the defendants’ truck. The defendants eventually caught up to the victims’ car and repeatedly rammed their truck into the victims’ car,...

Today the New York office of the FBI, in coordination with the Department of Justice, hosted a community conference to educate law enforcement, prosecutors, and community organizations about enhanced federal statutory authority on civil rights. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 was the focus of this meeting. Over 100 participants came together to learn about investigating, prosecuting, and preventing hate crimes and were treated to a special presentation by Dennis Shepard, father of Matthew Shepard. Hate crimes remain all too prevalent in our nation and investigating hate crimes is a high priority for the FBI. The FBI’s jurisdiction to investigate hate crimes was primarily predicated on four federal statutes. When The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 became effective as of October 28, 2009, it created a fifth statute. This legislation was signed into law by President Obama and was landmark because it is th...