The Justice Department handed down an additional life sentence to a man who shot and severely wounded two men in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, last year simply because they are Hispanic.
Douglas Cornett opened fire on two men filling up at a gas station as they returned home from work. Both victims survived but will have lifelong injuries, News4 reported.
Cornett already was serving two life sentences after pleading guilty this year in Spotsylvania Circuit Court. He received his federal sentence on Thursday after pleading guilty to two federal hate crime charges, the Justice Department announced.
“No one in this country should be hunted down and shot at because of who they are or where they come from,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “This sentence reflects the Justice Department’s unwavering commitment to protecting communities from hate-fueled violence and to hold accountable those who attack others based on prejudice.”
U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan for the Eastern District of Virginia also weighed in.
“As our nation recovers from recent political violence, today’s verdict is a welcome reminder that terror motivated by hate will not be tolerated,” she said in a statement. “My office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and vigorously prosecute those who choose brutality and aggression over civility and reason.”
Gunman followed victims and asked where they were from
Victim Omar Guandique was too emotional to speak with News4 as he left court this June, video shows. Last year at his home, after weeks in the hospital, he showed us the wounds from three bullets Cornett fired into his body. His friend and colleague also was shot and badly injured.
The gunfire came after Cornett targeted the men as they drove along Interstate 95 and tracked them to a gas station. He asked them where they were from and how long they had been in the country. Then he opened fire.
The men were pleased by the life sentence Cornett received this summer, Guandique’s brother Kevin Laren said.
“On the one hand, it broke us seriously, because of the injuries suffered by my brother. But we are happy because justice prevailed, which is what we wanted. A crime like this can’t go unpunished,” he said in Spanish.
Cornett pleaded guilty in April to six charges. An aggravated malicious wounding charge carried a possible life sentence.
Commonwealth’s Attorney for Spotsylvania County Ryan Mehaffey sought the maximum sentence.
“Mr. Cornett and his actions just caused terrible fear and horror in the Hispanic community in Spotsylvania, and he acted out of what can only be described as extreme hatred,” he said.
Guandique told the judge that with his injuries, he can’t do the work he previously did to support his family. Victim Jesus Martinez was still undergoing surgeries this summer.
Cornett’s apology: ‘Lo siento on my part’
Cornett’s defense attorney asked for a lesser prison term. He said his client, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, was influenced by right-wing political rhetoric. He also pointed to his client’s severe alcoholism and said Cornett was blackout drunk when he shot the victims.
Cornett offered an apology, saying: “I have no hatred for anybody. I have total remorse for this. Lo siento on my part.”
Judge William Glover was unmoved and imposed the two life prison terms.
“This case represents the consequences of a decadeslong drumbeat of anti-immigrant sentiment and misinformation being broadcast and broadcast and broadcast,” he said.
About a potential federal life sentence, Glover said at the time that he had “little confidence, if convicted there, Corbett wouldn’t be pardoned,” in a clear reference to Trump’s pardons of hundreds of criminals.
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