Three men involved in the death of gay Brooklyn resident Michael Sandy were sentenced on Nov 20. They had been convicted of various crimes pertaining to the sequence of events that killed the Ikea store employee in October 2006.
Anthony Fortunato, 21, received seven to 21 years for manslaughter as a hate crime. His attorney attempted to argue that he could not be guilty of an anti-gay hate crime if he himself was gay. John Fox, 20, received 13 to 21 years for manslaughter and attempted robbery, and Illy Shurov, 21, agreed to 17.5 years in exchange for a guilty plea of manslaughter and attempted robbery.
Earlier, Gary Timmons, 17, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery in exchange for his testimony. He will serve four years.
Sandy was removed from life support on Oct 13, five days after the men lured him online from his Williamsburg home to a meeting in Sheepshead Bay. Their robbery attempt chased him onto the Belt Parkway, where he was struck by a car.
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