HARRISON — Frankie Maybee was sentenced to 11 years in prison Wednesday for a federal hate crime, but he told the judge that when he rammed a car with five Hispanic men off a road in Carroll County last year, his actions weren’t based on “hate.”
“I’ve never been in this [type of] situation, especially not for being hateful,” Maybee said during his sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Harrison. “One ofthe weirdest things is that most of the people I hang out with are Hispanic. I was engaged to a Hispanic girl.”
District Judge Jimm L. Hendren sentenced Maybee, 20, of Green Forest to 11 years and three months in prison, fined him $10,000 and ordered him to pay $5,440 in restitution.
Maybee, who stood trial in May, was the first person in the nation to be convicted by a jury of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.
At the May 19 trial, Maybee was convicted of five counts of violating U.S. Code Title 18, Section 249(a)(1) of the hate crimes act, which involves attacks because of perceived race, color, religion or national origin. The jury also convicted Maybee of conspiring to violate the hate crimes act.
Maybee used his Ford F250 pickup on June 20, 2010, to ram a car in which five Hispanic men were traveling, forcing it from U.S. 412 near Alpena. The car rolled three times before striking a treeand catching fire, injuring all five men, federal prosecutors have said.
The fiery crash was the culmination of a chase that began in the parking lot of the Red-X Express gas station in Alpena, where Maybee and his passenger, Sean Popejoy, yelled racial epithets at the men, court records show.
After reaching a plea agreement May 18, Popejoy, 19, also of Green Forest, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the hate crimes law and one count of conspiring to violate the law.
On Tuesday, Popejoy was sentenced to four years in prison, fined $5,000 and ordered to pay $5,440 in restitution.
The plea agreement he took one day before Maybee’s trial made Popejoy the first person in the nation convicted under the Shepard act, and hewas the first sentenced under the law.
At Wednesday’s sentencing hearing for Maybee, attorney Chris Flanagin asked for leniency, in part, because he said Popejoy instigated most of the violence.
Flanagin said it was Popejoy not Maybee who yelled racial slurs at the five men.
Hendren wasn’t moved.
“I think Mr. Popejoy’s mouth may have gotten it started, but I didn’t see you back off,” Hendren told Maybee. “You accelerated.”
Maybee faced up to 55 years in prison.
Assistant U.S. attorney Kyra Jenner urged Hendren toimpose the maximum recommended sentence because of Maybee’s apparent disregard for human life.
She also said Maybee has amassed a history of traffic violations since he was 15 years old, including one for driving while intoxicated.
U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge held a news conference after the sentencing hearing and acknowledged the role of the Arkansas State Police, Carroll County Prosecuting Attorney Tony Rogers, the FBI and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
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Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 09/29/2011