Woman admits to faking hate crime
The Associated Press
August 9, 2002 11:22 am
Posted on 08/09/2002 11:24:25 AM PDT by Constitution Day
The Associated Press
Woman admits to faking hate crime
August 9, 2002 11:22 am
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A former Huntersville woman has admitted faking a hate crime at her home two years ago to collect insurance money.
Jaelynn Sealey, 35, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court, crying throughout the hearing. She will be sentenced in about two months and could face prison time.
She will have to repay $2,225 given to her family by neighbors and others when they thought someone had burned the Sealeys' car and painted racial slurs on their garage.
Within hours after Sealey called 911 on May 10, 2000, support began pouring in from her neighbors. They held a rally, brought food, and helped wash the words off the garage.
On Thursday, Wynfield residents said they were glad to see the case coming to a close, but were still waiting for an apology.
Sealey, who is black, admitted using gasoline to burn her 1999 Chevy Cavalier in her driveway and painting a racial epitaph on a metal garage door.
On Thursday, she pleaded guilty to four counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and two counts of making false statements to federal investigators.
In exchange for her plea, the government agreed to drop one count of using a firearm to commit a felony. That charge carries a mandatory 10-year prison sentence.
Sealey, who has moved to California, could face up to 45 years in federal prison and $2.25 million in fines.
She answered the judge's questions with "yes" or "no," sometimes in a barely audible voice. She declined to comment when the judge asked her if she had anything she wanted to say and then again after the hearing.
"At this point, I think both my client and the community want to put this behind us," Sealey's lawyer, Noell Tin, said. "I think the agreement is a reflection of that."
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If I may quote from the movie Major League, "Give her the heater."
I'm confused - What am I missing here?
These charges are misdemeanors, right? I don't see any indication (at least in this article) of a separate felony being committed with a firearm. Are there some other aspects of this story that are not being detailed here?
O_E
With the current uproar about hate-crimes legislation (you're way more guilty of murder if you didn't like the guy and he's one of the endangered species protected under the hate-crime umbrella), I'd be curious to know how many of the reported thought crimes are real, and how many are money-makers.
No, it said, "She Lies".
I believe the journo was thinking of a racial slur, or epithet. An epitaph is a funny limerick engraved on someone's headstone.
Article from 2001 on Front Page Magazine (David Horowitz) site
"Sealey, who is black, also told police someone painted on the metal garage door, 'Go Home N------.'"
I looked for the original Charlotte Observer link, but it wasn't on their site any longer.
I don't think so. You normally don't hve a maximum of 45 years on misdemeanor counts.
You mean like false reports of things like spousal abuse? People would not lie about that, would they?
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