Judge hears plea for leniency

A Kent cab driver injured in a hate-crime attack last year is continuing on the path to recovery.

“He has resumed work, but he doesn’t drive at night – he’s still anxious about it,” said attorney Hardeep Rekhi, of his client, Sukhvir Singh, 49. “He’s still looking over his shoulder.”

Singh, a follower of the Sikh faith, was injured Nov. 24 in an attack along Interstate 5, as he was transporting an intoxicated customer to Kent from Seattle. Kent resident Luis A. Vazquez assaulted the cab driver, striking him with his hands, biting off a piece of his scalp and accusing him of being a terrorist.

Singh wound up stopping the cab along the highway and fleeing the vehicle, pursued by Vazquez, who knocked him to the ground. The attack ended when Vazquez attempted to board a Metro bus that had stopped as a result of the highway altercation.

A milestone in the case unfolded Friday in Seattle Superior Court, when Vazquez, 21, received a sentence of nine months of work release and 240 hours of community service for the charges.

Vazquez, who last month pleaded guilty to malicious harassment (the state’s hate-crime law), second-degree assault and reckless endangerment, apologized to Singh at Friday’s sentencing, expressing remorse for his actions.

Singh was in the audience to hear him.

“In God we trust – that is the main thing I say in my life,” Singh said in a phone interview afterward, noting he has forgiven Vazquez. “We are all brothers and sisters. Our lives are very precious.”

Singh, who made a request for leniency to Judge Monica Benton, in whose courtroom Friday’s hearing took place, said he didn’t want to see Vazquez’s life destroyed. That’s where the work-release element of the sentence comes in, meaning Vazquez can continue to work, but must report to jail when he is not working.

“If someone does wrong, they should pay the price,” Singh said in the phone interview. “(But) I don’t want to ruin his life. He is young.”

Singh’s attorney Rekhi said he was pleased the case was treated as a hate crime, but expressed concern over the reduced sentence. Prosecutors had asked for a 12-month prison sentence, followed by 12 months of work release, to be served consecutively.

“We were glad that it was prosecuted as a hate crime, and he showed remorse,” Rekhi said. “But I thought that a stronger sentence should have been imposed.

“We need to send a strong message to the community – hatred is just as bad as small-drug crimes,” he added, noting the sentencing is often harsher in drug cases.

Rekhi noted that it was Singh’s wish for the work-release portion of the sentence.

“He’s the one who said they should put him on work release, that (going to prison full time) would hurt (Vazquez’s) job,” Rekhi said of his client.

King County Deputy Prosecutor Mike Hogan, reached Monday, acknowledged the penalty could have been stiffer, had the case gone to to federal court. In order to keep the work-release element in the sentence, however, prosecutors kept the case at the county level.

“He could have gotten a great deal more time,” Hogan said, noting the penalty could have been up to four years on the federal level.

But Hogan noted Singh’s request appeared to have reverberated with Judge Benton.

“She heard Mr. Singh’s recommendation for leniency. Her rationale made sense,” Hogan said, paraphrasing Benton’s statement to the court: “the only way to cure hatred is through compassion.”

On Saturday, Singh received congratulations from well-wishers, during a festival at his place of worship, Gurdwara Singh Sabha temple in Renton. Approximately 25 members of the Sikh community also had come out in support of Singh at Friday’s hearing.

Rehki on Friday noted Singh was grateful to have the matter put to rest.

“He’s glad that there’s been some resolution,” Rehki said.

Vazquez’s attorney, Greg Girard, couldn’t be reached for comment before deadline.