FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
January 31, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #:1/11-cr-42 LJO

FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Andrew Kerber, 22, of Chico, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to violating the civil rights of congregants of Congregation Beth Shalom, a synagogue in Modesto.

According to court documents, on Feb. 2, 2006, Kerber and two other men, Abel Mark Gonzalez, 23, of Morgan Hill, and Brian Lewis, 23, of Modesto, defaced and damaged the synagogue. Kerber admitted that the men spray-painted anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi graffiti on the synagogue’s exterior walls. He admitted that they spray-painted anti-Christian graffiti on the exterior walls of Our Lady of Fatima Church and School and the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation also in Modesto. Lewis and Gonzalez pleaded guilty for their roles in the offense on January 14, 2011.

“Protecting freedom of worship through strong enforcement of our nation’s civil rights laws is vital to safeguarding the constitutional rights of all Americans,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Department will continue to aggressively prosecute those who seek to violate the rights of their fellow Americans to worship freely.”

U.S. Attorney Wagner said: “This country was founded by people who sought to practice their religion without being harassed, threatened, or intimidated. It is our obligation to ensure that all Americans can be secure in the exercise of their First Amendment rights.”

Kerber is scheduled to be sentenced on April 8, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. The maximum sentence is one year in prison and a fine of $100,000. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

  

This case was investigated by the Modesto Resident Agency of the FBI’s Sacramento Field Office with assistance from the Modesto Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gappa of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Karen Ruckert Lopez.   

  

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