WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Two southwest Kansas men have been charged with federal hate crimes after prosecutors say they attacked three Somali men last year.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Wichita says 31-year-old Omar Cantero Martinez and 24-year-old Armando Sotelo, both of Dodge City, were charged Wednesday with three counts of causing bodily injury to a victim because of race and national origin.
Prosecutors say Martinez and Sotelo attacked the three Somalis, who were in the country legally, in June 2015. Two of the victims were attacked with a broken bottle.
U.S. Attorney Tom Beall of Kansas and Vanita Gupta, head of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, announced the charges.
Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. It was unclear if either suspect had obtained an attorney.