ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 12, 1990                   TAG: 9006120143
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

RACIAL SLAYING BRINGS MAXIMUM SENTENCES

Two 19-year-old white men on Monday were dealt the longest possible prison terms for the mob-beating and death of a young black man who had come to their neighborhood to buy a car.

Justice Thaddeus Owens handed down the sentences after a prosecutor called the slaying "Neanderthal-type behavior" by the white mob.

The Aug. 23 shooting death of 16-year-old Yusuf Hawkins in Brooklyn's Bensonhurst section inflamed racial passions in the city.

Owens sentenced Joseph Fama, named by prosecutors as the triggerman, to 32 years to life in prison. He was convicted of second-degree murder, riot, unlawful imprisonment, weapons possession and other crimes. Defense lawyer David DePetris said he would appeal.

Earlier, Owens handed Keith Mondello 5 to 16 years in prison, plus a $2,000 fine. Mondello, identified as the ringleader, had been acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges, but convicted of riot, unlawful imprisonment and discrimination.

While supporters of Hawkins' family applauded, members of Fama's family screamed in Italian and wept.

Hawkins and three friends had gone to Bensonhurst, a primarily white neighborhood, to look at a used car; a mob of whites, having been warned about "outsiders," set upon the black teen-agers.

With the Fama conviction, the city remained calm. But when Mondello's verdict was delivered, acquitting him of the most serious charges, crowds of blacks hurled rocks and bottles in Brooklyn, and several reporters - black and white - were roughed up.

Opening statements are expected Monday in the trial of John Vento, another of the white youths charged in the case. Owens set trial dates in September, November and January for five other defendants. 


 by CNB