Iowa prosecutors dropped hate crime charges against Michael Cassidy on Friday in exchange for a guilty plea to a less severe misdemeanor charge, The Sentinel reports.
Cassidy is the Christian US military veteran who beheaded a statue of Satan inside the Iowa Capitol last year.
Polk County Democratic Attorney Kimberly Graham enhanced Cassidy’s charges to include hate crimes, thereby increasing the potential sentence to five years in prison had he been convicted. On Friday, he entered a guilty plea for third-degree criminal mischief. In return, he avoided prison time in exchange for the payment of a fine and the dismissal of the hate crime enhancements.
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