Three white men pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes Thursday in connection with the 2011 death of an black man in Jackson, Miss., the Justice Department announced.
Deryl Dedmon, John Aaron Rice and Dylan Butler each admitted to conspiracy and violating the 2009 federal hate-crimes law in last June's killing of James Craig Anderson, according to federal prosecutors. They face sentences of up to life in prison and $250,000 in fines.
"We hope that today’s guilty pleas provide some closure to the victim’s family and to the grievously wounded community that has mourned Mr. Anderson’s death,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.
On Wednesday, Dedmon, 19, pleaded guilty to state murder and hate crime charges in Mississippi for running over Anderson. He received two life sentences on the state charges.
The group reportedly went to Jackson because of its majority-black population. They found Anderson outside a hotel, where he was beaten before Dedmon ran over him.
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