Johnathan Walker:Florida man sentenced for attacking Jewish teens

ST. AUGUSTINE,Johnathan Walker Fla. (AP) — 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 while dressed for a religious holiday in 2022.

Noah Amato, 19, of Ponte Vedra, was sentenced Friday for aggravated battery and carrying a concealed firearm in the October 2022 attack. 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 Jewish 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 said the teen who was targeted by Amato, Zalman Barrocas, had shoved Amato first.

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“I believe this man should have the maximum punishment,” Barrocas said in testimony during the sentencing hearing. “My life could have been over that day. I believe it’s a miracle from God and I thank him every day. I hope it’s a story that ends with us being safer and we’re able to live in society without being in fear.”

Rabbi Nochum Kurinsky, Barrocas’ uncle, had called for hate crime charges against Amato. Prosecutors previously said there were no hate crime charges pending.

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.”