Acted
as a Look-Out While Conspirators Used a Noose to Hang a Dead Raccoon on a
Family’s Porch
WASHINGTON—Billie Ray Pratt, age 24, of
Halethorpe, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to his involvement in hanging a
raccoon on the porch of a family from Africa.
According to his plea agreement, in
April 2010 Pratt, Joshua Wall and three other co-conspirators agreed on a plan
to hang a dead raccoon from a noose on the porch of an African family to
frighten them and to interfere with their housing rights. Pratt claimed that
two of his co-conspirators drove around until they found a dead raccoon and
made the noose to put around the raccoon’s neck. Wall and a co-conspirator hung
the raccoon on the porch of the home in the middle of the night while Pratt
acted as a look-out.
“The hanging of a noose is a powerful
symbol of hate that has no place in our country,” said Thomas E. Perez,
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The department will
continue to prosecute acts such as this one to the fullest extent of the law.”
The investigation remains is ongoing.
Pratt faces a maximum penalty of 10
years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy to deprive a person of civil
rights. U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander has scheduled sentencing for
August 17, 2012.
Joshua Wall, age 20, of Essex, Maryland,
pleaded guilty on March 5, 2012 to his involvement in the conspiracy and faces
the same maximum penalty at his sentencing scheduled for August 17, 2012.
U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein and
Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez commended the FBI for its work in
the investigation and thanked U.S. Department of Justice Trial Attorney AeJean
Cha of the Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney P. Michael
Cunningham, who are prosecuting the case.
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