Indianapolis resident Shepherd Hoehn will spend 46 months in prison for harassing his Black neighbor after a dispute over tree removal.
U.S. District Court Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson sentenced Hoehn to 46 months in prison last Friday, reported WRTV. In addition to the prison term, Hoehn will spend three years on supervised release.
Hoehn became upset with his neighbor in June 2020 after the latter hired a construction crew to cut down a tree in the neighbor’s yard, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
In retaliation, Hoehn, a white man, “became angry and took several steps to threaten, intimidate, and interfere with his neighbor and the construction workers,” according to the DOJ.
Hoehn threw eggs at the neighbor’s house, burned a cross and adorned his fence with a swastika facing the neighbor’s yard. He also put up a large sign containing several racial slurs against Black people and placed a machete next to the sign. To top it all off, Hoehn loudly played the song “Dixie” on repeat.
On July 1, 2020, the FBI raided Hoehn’s home, where they found guns and drug paraphernalia. When Hoehn spoke to the FBI, he explained his motivation.
“I don’t care. I wanted to piss him off. I wanted to make him miserable,” he said, according to the DOJ.
He was hit with federal charges for one count of violating the fair housing act for harassment and two counts for unlawfully possessing firearms.
“Today, Mr. Hoehn was held responsible for his vile conduct,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John E. Childress. “We are a diverse nation, bound together by shared values and beliefs. We are also a nation of laws. Those like Mr. Hoehn who would betray our shared values and beliefs through behavior such as this rightly suffer the penalties our laws prescribe.”
“Although the First Amendment protects hateful, ignorant and morally repugnant beliefs and speech, it does not protect those who choose to take criminal actions based on those beliefs,” said Southern District of Indiana attorney Josh Minkler. “This office will continue to prosecute federal hate crimes to the fullest extent of the law.”
