CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) – Two South Texas men have been indicted on federal hate-crime charges for the March 2012 torture of a gay African-American man in Corpus Christi.
The indictment charges 32-year-old Jimmy Garza Jr. and 22-year-old Ramiro Serrata Jr. with conspiracy to commit hate crimes, a race-based hate crime violation, a hate crime based on sexual orientation and the use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime.
The indictment alleges the pair conspired to lure the man to an apartment where they tortured him for three hours while calling him racist and homophobic names, punching and kicking him and assaulting him with various weapons, including a frying pan, a coffee mug, a belt and a chair.
If convicted, both could be sentenced to life imprisonment. Both remain in custody.
