SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 21, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A former Draper resident was convicted in Federal Court on Wednesday of committing a hate crime against another resident of the Adagio apartment complex in 2016.
Mark Olic Porter, 59, was convicted of interfering with the Draper man’s housing rights based on his race in an incident that occurred on Nov. 2, 2016.
A Department of Justice indictment filed last September alleged that “Mark Porter shouted racial slurs at the victim and his 7-year-old son, and then struck the victim with a stun cane,” said a statement released at the time.
“The indictment further alleges that the stun cane is a dangerous weapon, and the victim suffered bodily injury.”
This week, trial attorneys cited past charges against Porter, such as an Idaho case in which he was accused of punching a white woman because she wore an Africa-inspired nose ring. Witnesses also testified about racist remarks made by Porter in the past.
Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Drew Yeates told the jury that Porter yelled the slurs at the first-grader, then assaulted the adult victim, Mike Waldvogel, now 41, “because he hates black people and he didn’t want them living in his community.”
After the incident, Porter moved to Arizona.
The jury deliberated for four hours before its decision was announced at about 4:15 p.m. Wednesday.
“This kind of hate won’t be tolerated in the state of Utah,” U.S. Attorney John Huber said of the case.
Porter now faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing is scheduled for May 30.
Porter also faces related assault charges filed by the state of Utah.
