North Texas man gets 15 years for assaults, robbing gay men

DALLAS (AP) — A 21-year-old North Texas man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for assaulting a man because he was gay.

Federal prosecutors say Nigel Garrett of Frisco is among four Dallas-area men named in an 18-count indictment accusing them of using a social media dating platform for gay men to arrange meetings at victims’ homes where the victims were tied up, assaulted and robbed at gunpoint. They four were charged with hate crimes, kidnappings, carjackings and using firearms to commit violent crimes.

Garrett’s sentencing Wednesday followed a plea agreement.

According to the indictment, the four men were responsible for four home invasions in Plano, Frisco and Aubrey, Texas, over about a three-week period early last year. The three others charged also have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.