Texas Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Hate Crime Assault Based on Victim’s Sexual Orientation

Chancler Encalade, 20, was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison for assaulting a man because of the victim’s sexual orientation, announced the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Texas, and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Dallas Division.

According to the plea agreement, Encalade admitted he, Nigel Garrett, and another co-defendant, used Grindr, a social media dating platform for gay men, to arrange to meet the victim at the victim’s home. Upon entering the victim’s home, the defendants restrained the victim with tape, physically assaulted the victim, and made derogatory statements to the victim for being gay. The defendants brandished a firearm during the home invasion, and they stole the victim’s property, including his motor vehicle.

A federal grand jury previously returned an eighteen-count superseding indictment that included charges for hate crimes, kidnappings, carjackings, and the use of firearms to commit violent crimes. The indictment also charged the defendants with conspiring to cause bodily injury because of the victims’ sexual orientation during four home invasions in Plano, Frisco, and Aubrey, Texas, from Jan. 17 to Feb. 7, 2017. Garrett, their other co-defendant, and Encalade subsequently pleaded guilty to hate crime charges from this indictment. Garrett was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison.  

“The defendant targeted his victim with violence because of his sexual orientation, and used the internet to facilitate this crime,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division will continue to vigorously prosecute hate crimes such as this one.”

“The defendant not only broke in, but he did it specifically to intimidate individuals because of their sexual orientation,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown for the Eastern District of Texas. “This is the kind of case where federal and local law enforcement should come together, and that happened effectively here.”

The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Plano Police Department, and the Frisco Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracey Batson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas and Trial Attorney Saeed Mody of the Civil Rights Division.