2 men plead guilty in swastika branding case

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Two New Mexico men accused of branding a swastika on the arm of a developmentally disabled Navajo man have pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth Gonzales says 28-year-old Paul Beebe and 26-year-old Jesse Sanford entered their pleas in federal court Thursday morning.

A third defendant, 29-year-old William Hatch, pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit a federal hate crime.

The three men were charged in November under the 2009 federal hate crimes law after being accused of branding a swastika on Vincent Kee’s arm with a metal coat hanger in April 2010.

They also were accused of shaving a swastika onto the back of Kee’s head and using markers to write “KKK” and “White Power” on him.