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Two Men Only Sentenced to 150 Hours Community Service for Gay Bashing

Gay beating in New York
Courtesy of NY1

Taj Patterson was assaulted on a walk home in 2013 and left blind in his right eye. 

Two Brooklyn men who plead guilty to assaulting a gay student are dodging some of the requirements of their light sentencing.

Pinchas Braver and Abrahama Winkler took a plea deal of 150 hours of community service and $1,400 in restitution for the 2013 beating of Taj Patterson, an openly gay fashion student in New York.

Braver and Winkler are required to volunteer at a "culturally diverse" organization for their 150 hours of service. The pair initially picked Chai Lifeline, an organization that counsels Jewish children with life-threatening diseases. However, prosecutors did not believe that fit the "culturally diverse" requirement.

The two men have been given 30 days to find another program before the New York Department of Probation places them in one. Meanwhile, they have also been given an extension of their $1,400 restitution.

Braver and Winkler were part of a neighborhood watch group of Hasidic Jews that beat Patterson so badly during his walk home to Fort Greene that he is now blind in his right eye.

Of the five men, only Braver and Winkler have pleaded guilty. Two others had their cases dropped, and a third will head to trial.

Patterson is also suing the city, claiming his trial was botched because of the patrol group's close ties to local law enforcement, according to NY1 News.

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