Six Sentenced for Hate Crimes

SANTA FE, NM -- Six men have been sentenced after last year's brutal beatings of two gay men in Santa Fe, N.M.

James Maestas, 22, and Joshua Stockham, 24, were attacked on February 27 last year in the car park of a local motel. Mr Maestas spent eight days in a coma after the attack while Mr Stockham received minor injuries.

Mr Maestas told the court that he had to learn how to walk again and how to cope with everyday activities such as dressing himself.

Joseph Cano, 19, Jonathan Valdez, 21, Paul Montoya, 20, Gabriel Maturin, 21, Isaia Medina, 20, and David Trinidad, 18, were all convicted of the attack in the court in New Mexico.

"I will never, ever forget this," Mr Stockham told the defendants. "Having someone hate your lifestyle so much that they would physically beat you is hard to accept. I will forgive you, but I won't forget."

Judge Michael Vigil told Maturin and Medina that they would undergo psychological examinations in the state prison at Los Lunas and would then be sentenced by the court. He warned the pair: "The viciousness of this attack warrants you going to the penitentiary to see where you will live your life if this type of activity continues."

Cano, Valdez, and Montoya were sentenced to three years of supervised probation and 500 hours of community service, including speaking to high school and college students about what they did. Trinidad, who was only 17 when the attack occurred, was ordered by the judge to participate in a treatment program for sexual offenders in Las Vegas, N.M., and then go on probation for five years.