Audio Transcript

Mollie Halpern: Two men are each serving 15 years in federal prison for their connection to a violent hate crime in Corpus Christi, Texas.

A third man is also in prison for lying to FBI agents about his part in the crime.

I’m Mollie Halpern of the FBI, and this is Gotcha, the Bureau’s closed case of the week.

Ramiro Serrata, Jimmy Garza, and Carlos Garcia were convicted for their roles in the assault of a gay African-American man because of his race and sexual orientation.

FBI case agent Janelle Janabajal says the victim was sodomized.

Janelle Janabajal: They held him up against the wall and started whipping him with the belt, making references to slavery and calling him derogatory names.

Halpern: After several hours, the victim managed to escape. He has become an advocate for other hate crime victims.

Keire Gartica: I survived my hate crime. So many people have not survived them. I don’t feel the emotional scars. They need to think about what they did, and 15 years is long enough.

Halpern: To see the FBI’s recently released annual Hate Crime Statistics report, visit www.fbi.gov.