Defendant sentenced to prison for his role in Dutchess County hate crime

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The Dutchess County Courthouse where Judge Hayes practiced law and became a judge. MHNN file photo.

POUGHKEEPSIE – Joshua Benson Jr., 23, was sentenced to prison in Dutchess County Court on Wednesday.  Benson Jr. is the first of four men to be sentenced for the December 2021 crime that occurred in Dover.

Benson Jr. was sentenced to 12 years in prison with five years of post-release supervision by Dutchess County Court Judge Edward McLoughlin.  He was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims and was issued an order of protection to stay away from the victims.

Benson Jr. pled guilty before trial in May to felony robbery in exchange for a 12-year sentence.  The defendant’s father, with a prior felony conviction, pled guilty to robbery before trial and is facing 12 years in prison.  The youngest defendant, 19-year-old Darius Robinson, pled guilty to robbery in this case in April and is awaiting sentencing.

The fourth defendant, Nicholas Gast, 34, considered the ringleader, was convicted after a jury trial in June of this year after refusing to take a plea deal.  At the trial, Senior Assistant District Attorney David Kunca told the jury that Gast convinced his three accomplices to join him in attacking the two victims because they appeared to be Mexican.  Because of his criminal history, Gast faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced by Judge McLoughlin.

“Joshua Benson, Jr. spent his 23rd  birthday participating in the gunpoint robbery of two men who were victimized simply because the defendants believed them to be of Mexican descent,” Kunca said, adding “The sentence handed down Wednesday is simply an expression of how little tolerance our community has for this type of targeted violence.”

The original account of the home invasion can be found here.




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