CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — One of two South Texas men indicted on federal hate-crime charges for the March 2012 torture of a gay African-American man in Corpus Christi has pleaded guilty.
Ramiro Serrata Jr. pleaded guilty in federal court in Corpus Christi Sept. 15 to single counts of conspiracy to commit hate crimes and a hate-crime violation based on sexual orientation.
In court Serrata, who’s 22, admitted that he and others lured the man to an apartment. There, for three hours, they punched, kicked and assaulted him with various weapons, including a frying pan, a sock filled with batteries, a belt and a broomstick while calling him racist and homophobic names.
Serrata faces up to 15 years in prison at sentencing Dec. 9. Still awaiting trial on related charges is 32-year-old Jimmy Garza Jr.
