Mosque vandal sentenced to wellness court, work release
A former Army medic has been sentenced for throwing rocks and a Bible through the windows of a Colorado mosque.
The Coloradoan reports 36-year-old Joseph Giaquinto was sentenced to three years in wellness court and six months of work release on Thursday.
Prosecutors say Giaquinto’s actions against the Islamic Center of Fort Collins in March escalated to a hate crime because they were deliberate.
The defense argued that Giaquinto is a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress and alcohol abuse disorders.
His lawyer Heather Siegel says the act was a crime of location since he lived near the mosque.
According to Siegel, Giaquinto was drunk the night he vandalized the church and was later “horrified” to learn what he had done.
