An East Meadow man who admitted to spray-painting antisemitic graffiti on neighborhood fences and outside a local synagogue last spring was sentenced Friday, Nov. 7, to four years’ probation after failing to complete bias prevention training and community service required under his plea agreement, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced.
Sebastian Patino Caceres, 23, pleaded guilty in January to fourth-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime for defacing private property and the East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center with antisemitic messages in April 2024.
As part of his plea, he was given the opportunity to reduce the conviction to a misdemeanor if he fulfilled several educational and restorative conditions.
Those requirements included six months of bias prevention classes, 100 hours of community service, and a guided visit to the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Glen Cove.
According to prosecutors, Caceres attended the HMTC tour but failed to engage meaningfully and did not fulfill his other obligations.
“He gave endless excuses before completing his community service and attended only one of his mandatory bias prevention sessions,” Donnelly said in a statement. “His paltry attempts at atonement were clear to the judge, who made the right decision and sentenced him on felony charges and upgraded his probation.”
Donnelly said that her office would continue to take a hard line against antisemitic crimes.
“My office will never accept antisemitism in Nassau County,” she said. “While we will always extend opportunities for defendants to learn and grow from their hateful and misguided acts, when a defendant refuses the chance to become a more tolerant member of society, they will meet the appropriate legal consequences.”
Prosecutors said that between April 14 and 15, 2024, Caceres spray-painted antisemitic phrases, including “Zionism is Nazism,” “Stop the Genocide,” “Free Palestine,” and “F— Israel,” on backyard PVC fences along Merrick Avenue.
One of the messages was painted over plastic sheeting that covered a mural depicting Israeli citizens kidnapped by Hamas in October 2023.
He also spray-painted “Free Palestine” across the sidewalk in front of the East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center at 1400 Prospect Ave..
The defendant was arrested on April 16, 2024, by detectives from the Nassau County Police Department’s First Squad.
Caceres was represented by Karen Johnston, Esq., efforts to reach her were unavailing.
