A teenage skinhead who got probation for the drive-by murder of a black man because of a misunderstanding by the jury drew 40 years in prison for a related offense.
Christopher Brosky, 19, was convicted Thursday of engaging in organized criminal activity in the 1991 shotgun slaying of Donald Thomas, a warehouse worker picked at random and gunned down on the street because he was black.Brosky was riding in the car from which the shots were fired.
In March, an all-white jury convicted Brosky of murder but misunderstood the sentencing instructions and ordered five years in prison and 10 years' probation. The judge had to drop the prison term because that combination is not allowed in Texas.
That prompted a public outcry, a huge protest march and a second trial on a different set of charges that ended with a racially mixed jury handing Brosky 40 years in prison and $5,000 fine.
"I'll take 40," said Deborah Peoples of the African-American Summit for Peace and Justice. "You know I had my doubts about this case and whether it was going to get thrown out with the double jeopardy and all, but I am elated."
Prosecutors said that Brosky, who was in the back seat during the shooting; Joshua Hendry, the driver; and William "Trey" Roberts III shared membership in the neo-Nazi skinhead movement. They argued that all three advocated violence toward minorities and helped one another during the crime.
