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Man Gets 20 Days In Jail, Probation In Hate Crime

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - A man convicted of harassment in what Boulder police say was an alcohol-fueled hate crime has been sentenced to 20 days in jail and two years on probation.

The Daily Camera reports that 23-year-old Zachrey Harris was sentenced Friday for using racial slurs against a Nigerian college student last September. Prosecutors believe it's the first time in Colorado that someone has been convicted of a bias-motivated crime based on words alone.

The maximum penalty was 18 months in jail.

Harris said during the hearing that he has apologized to Oluyibi Ogundipe and his friend, Ahmad Abdulkareem, who's from Saudi Arabia.

Co-defendant Joseph Coy was convicted of a bias-motivated crime and second-degree assault in an attack on Ogundipe. He faces up to 16 years in prison when he's sentenced June 27.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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