A Texas man has been sentenced to ten
years in federal prison for hate-crime assaults on gay men.
According to the AP, Chancler Encalade
was sentenced on Tuesday.
Encalade and three other men used
Grindr, a dating app for gay and bisexual men, to find men to assault
and rob. Nigel Garrett previously received 15 years in prison. The
other suspects – Cameron Ajiduah and Anthony Shelton – are set
for an April trial in Plano, Texas.
According to the plea agreement signed
by Garrett, the defendants used Grindr to meet their victims at their
homes. The victims were physically assaulted, bound and robbed
during the home invasion. The defendants would make homophobic
statements to the victims while brandishing a firearm. The crimes
were committed in the Texas cities of Plano, Frisco and Aubrey over a
three-week period early last year.
An 18-count indictment handed down by a
federal grand jury in May included charges of hate crimes,
kidnappings, carjackings and use of a firearm to commit violent
crimes.