The U.S. Justice Department building in Washington, D.C, | Alex Brandon, AP
Published on April 25, 2024 at 3:39 pm
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A Jacksonville man has been sentenced to 60 months in prison for accosting two Black women with a gun in separate hate crimes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says.
Frederick Pierallini III, 27, pleaded guilty July 6. He also faces three years of supervised release, prosecutors say.
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“The violent assaults committed against these two women because of their race are intolerable,” Middle District U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg said in a news release. “There is no place in our society for such heinous acts.”
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said, “No one in this country should have to live in fear that when they use public spaces or work at their job, they risk attack by someone who hates them because of the color of their skin.”
According to court documents, Pierallini intimidated a convenience store clerk Sept. 10, 2022, after his card was denied for snacks. He tried to walk out of the store with the snacks but returned, made racial slurs and scolded the woman for not knowing how to do her job.
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Pierallini then left again but returned with a shotgun, pointed it at her and cocked it, prosecutors said. The clerk ran away.
Two days later, Pierallini approached another woman sitting in her walker on a sidewalk. He yelled racial slurs, told her she could not sit there and threatened to kill her, prosecutors said.
Pierallini then left but returned with a shotgun and fired one shot. The woman fell to the ground but was not hit.
