East Meadow man pleads guilty to hate crime charges

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Sebastian Patino Caceres has pleaded guilty to criminal mischief as a hate crime charges, after officials say he spray-painted antisemitic phrases on fences in East Meadow and outside of the East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center in April 2024.

Caceres, 23 of East Meadow, appeared before Judge Robert Schwartz on Jan. 16, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office. The charges against him are considered a felony, the office said, in a news release sent to reporters on Jan. 17.

Sometime between April 14 and 15, 2024, Caceres spray-painted several antisemitic phrases on PVC fencing on the rear yards of private properties along Merrick Avenue, authorities said. The graffiti, found on the morning of April 15, included phrases like “Zionism is Nazism” and “F-ck Israel.” The phrases were discovered on plastic sheeting affixed to the fencing protecting a mural of Israeli citizens who were taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

Debbie Habshoosh, whose yard backs up to Merrick Avenue, began displaying the photos of the hostages along her fence line in the fall of 2023. Her husband is Israeli, she said, and in the six months the flyers had been posted, they hadn’t been touched.

Additional portions of the fence line, where no murals had been hung, were also defaced.

Caceres also spray-painted “Free Palestine” across the front cement of the East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center, at 1400 Prospect Ave., officials said.

He was arrested on April 16, 2024 by Nassau County police detectives.

The incident sparked a wave of concern in the East Meadow community, and hours after the graffiti was discovered, an emergency news conference was held by Town of Hempstead officials in front of the fence line. Town Supervisor Don Clavin called the graffiti “a brazen attack on our friends of the Jewish faith.”

Clavin was joined at that press conference by several members of the town board, religious leaders, County Legislator Tom McKevitt and District Attorney Anne Donnelly, as well as dozens of concerned residents. Donnelly said the incident could be categorized as a hate crime, which means it was motivated by bias. She said her office has seen an increase in hate crimes across the county and was aggressively prosecuting those responsible.

As part of Caceres’s plea deal, he must complete six months of bias prevention training, 100 hours of community service, and take a guided tour of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Glen Cove. If he successfully completes these conditions, he will be sentenced to a misdemeanor with three years of probation. If he does not, the felony charge will remain, and he will be sentenced to five years of probation.

Caceres is due back in court on March 7, the district attorney’s office said.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney James Taglienti of the County Court Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Hate Crimes Unit Chief Kirk Sendlein and Narcotics, Firearms, and Gangs Bureau Chief Nicholas Mauro, with oversight from Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Investigations Division Rick Whelan.

Donnelly said, “antisemitism will never be tolerated by my office or by Nassau County.”

“My prosecutors held this defendant responsible for his offensive actions with this plea to a felony hate crime, but with the understanding that punitive measures alone will not stop this intolerant behavior,” she said. “It is through education and awareness that we can teach defendants about the gravity of their words and actions, change minds, promote kindness, and compassion, and heal communities. This defendant has been given the opportunity to learn and grow from this criminal conduct. I hope that he takes this experience and turns it into positive change for his own life and potentially for the lives of others who would think about committing these hateful acts.”

Clavin applauded the district attorney’s office for its efforts. “The Town of Hempstead will continue to work with our partners in law enforcement to uphold and enforce our zero-tolerance policy against hatred in all forms.” 

County Legislator Seth Koslow, who represents parts of Merrick, Bellmore and Freeport, is a ranking member of the county’s Public Safety Committee. As Merrick Avenue is a major roadway that connects Merrick and Bellmore to East Meadow and beyond, he said his communities were directly impacted by the biased graffiti. Many Bellmore and Merrick residents are also members of the East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center.

“Enforcement and education are both essential components of any comprehensive strategy for exposing antisemitism in all of its ugly forms and holding its purveyors accountable,” Koslow said. “As the ranking member of the Legislature’s Public Safety committee and a representative of Merrick — a community that was directly impacted by these incidents — I am hopeful that this outcome will deter future bias crimes and send a clear message that Nassau County will never waver in its commitment to eradicating hatred in all of its forms.”