A Florida man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after earlier pleading no contest to attacking four Jewish teenagers who were walking along a road in 2022, The Associated Press reported.
Noah Amato, 19, of Ponte Vedra, was sentenced on Friday for aggravated battery and carrying a concealed firearm in the October 2022 attack, according to the report.
Local news outlets reported his sentence also covers a no contest plea to fleeing police and reckless driving in 2023.
Investigators said Amato and a friend were riding a bike in Ponte Vedra Beach in 2022 while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Amato shouted a slur to a group of four Jewish teenagers who were out celebrating the holiday of Sukkot. Amato then hit one of the teenagers with a handgun in the face, deputies said, and fired the gun near the teenager’s head, leaving burns on the teen’s face.
Amato’s attorney disputed parts of the account, saying there was a verbal confrontation between Amato and the Jewish teens. The lawyer claimed the teen who was targeted by Amato, Zalman Barrocas, had shoved Amato first.
Amato apologized for the pain he caused the family, saying on the witness stand, “I take 100% responsibility for the heinous crime I committed. I was highly intoxicated on an entire bottle of liquor and some Percocets.”