O'Tink, I did not take time to research this but am wondering if it fell under the harsher penalties for hate crime?
When I was in Iowa, there were authentic "hate crimes" that were purposely downgraded/look the other way so that the perpetrators would NOT receive those longer, tougher sentences...
As to whether "justice was served," well overall I am not all that impressed with the efficacy of the US justice and penal systems. So I am "just sayin,' " however not really advocating for the fairness of the sentence.