Ex-Convict Gets 6 Years for Hate Crime

By TONY PERRY

Jan. 9, 2002 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SAN DIEGO — A 30-year-old ex-convict has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to committing a hate crime against a Jordanian immigrant because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Superior Court Judge A. Frank Brown gave the maximum sentence Monday to Horatio Fernando Plascencia. “I think what you did was really evil,” he said.

Plascencia admitted that he battered Ahmad Numan, 33, and tried to stab him with a screwdriver. The attack occurred at a gas station in the Pacific Beach area of San Diego where Numan was a clerk.

“This was not an act of patriotism,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Wendy Patrick. “This was a hate crime.”

Numan, who quit his job because of the Nov. 18 attack, said he is plagued by nightmares. “I dream he’s going to come back to kill me,” he said. “My life has changed. I wish I could get back my normal life.”

Plascencia, who served time in prison for a 1991 robbery conviction, admitted that he threatened to kill Numan unless he gave him a pack of cigarettes. Plascencia asked Numan where he was from.

When Numan said Jordan, Plascencia responded, “Then in that case I am going to kill you” and accused Numan of being part of a terrorist network.

A hate-crime battery allegation carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. Because Plascencia had a prior felony conviction, another three years was added, court officials said.

Plascencia expressed remorse for the attack and blamed the fact that he had downed six beers in the minutes before the incident.

The case is the first hate-crime allegation in San Diego County tied to the Sept. 11 attacks, although several cases are being investigated. In two cases--an assault on a female motorist and an attack on a man outside a restaurant--officials have done re-creations for television in hopes of finding witnesses.

Numan, who immigrated three years ago, said he is trying to keep the incident from destroying his faith in America.

“When I came here, it was like a dream, everybody treated equal, not like other places,” he said. “I still want to believe that.”