Co-conspirator Sentenced to 33 Months for Hate Crime Against a Transgender Woman

U.S. District Court Judge Aida Delgado Colón sentenced Anthony Steven Lobos-Ruiz to 33 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for a hate crime committed on Feb. 24, 2020, with a dangerous weapon against a transgender woman identified as A.N.L., because of her gender identity.

According to the court documents, Lobos-Ruiz acted in coordination with Jordany Rafael Laboy-García and Christian Yamaurie Rivera-Otero in perpetrating a hate crime. On Aug. 29, Lobos-Ruiz pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting others in the attempted assault of A.N.L. with a paintball gun because she was, and was perceived to be, transgender. Court records show that Lobos-Ruiz admitted to procuring a paintball gun with his co-defendants to cause bodily injury to A.N.L. after he and his friends spotted A.N.L. on the side of the road in Toa Baja and verbally harassed the victim. Lobos-Ruiz also admitted to video recording the assault with his iPhone and sharing the video with others.

The charges against Laboy-García and Rivera-Otero are still pending. If convicted, Laboy-García and Rivera-Otero face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the hate crime charge, five years in prison for the conspiracy charge and a fine up to $250,000 with respect to each charge. If convicted with obstruction of justice, Rivera-Otero also faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 for the obstruction of justice charge.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico and Special Agent in Charge Joseph Gonzalez of the FBI San Juan Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI San Juan Field Office is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Shan Patel and Laura Gilson of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney José A. Contreras for the District of Puerto Rico are prosecuting the case.