JTA — An Ohio man was sentenced to 30 months in prison for attacking someone he believed to be Jewish.
Izmir Koch, of the Dayton suburb of Huber Heights, was sentenced last week for attacking Paul Marshall outside a Cincinnati-area restaurant in 2017. He was convicted of committing a hate crime and lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Koch, 34, was standing outside a restaurant asking people if they were Jewish. Though Marshall is not Jewish he answered in the affirmative when asked. Koch then beat him up, causing injuries to his ribs and a fracture of the orbital floor, the bottom portion of his eye socket.
The assailant, who is originally from Turkey, was indicted and convicted last year.
Todd Wickerham, a special agent leading the FBI’s office in Cincinnati, said the bureau sought a stiff sentence, Cleveland Jewish News reported.
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“We just think the impact of someone being assaulted because of their religious preferences or their background is so impactful in the community that we want to take these cases on to make sure the penalties… really fit the impact of this,” Wickerham said.
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