New York Judge John Hubbard sentenced 23-year-old Zachary Kowatch to five years of probation for attempted reckless endangerment in the first degree, a Class E felony. Kowatch, who had pleaded guilty on Oct. 21, was accused of swerving his car at a Jewish teenager while shouting antisemitic slurs in the village of Fleischmanns, N.Y., on May 9.

Shawn Smith, acting district attorney for Delaware County, expressed frustration with the increasing frequency of similar incidents, telling JNS, “I have another one almost identical going on right now, and I don’t understand what’s the matter with people.” Smith referenced another case involving Joseph E. VanBlarcom, a 20-year-old who allegedly swerved his car at Jewish individuals while shouting bigoted insults on July 29, also in Fleischmanns. VanBlarcom faces charges of aggravated harassment in the second degree as a hate crime, a Class E felony, and awaits trial.

Though Kowatch’s actions were initially charged as reckless endangerment as a hate crime, Smith said the charge “wasn’t strong enough” to pursue a harsher penalty. He noted that while Kowatch will have a felony on his record for life, further action will be taken only if he violates his probation. “If he can get [his alcohol issues] under control and turn over a new leaf, then that works out,” Smith said. “And if he doesn’t, then he’s convicted of a felony.”

However, Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at the Lawfare Project, criticized the sentence as too lenient, calling it “a sweetheart plea deal” that amounted to “a slap on the wrist.” Filitti argued that an “aggressive prosecutor could have charged him with a more serious offense: second-degree attempted murder.” He expressed disappointment that the plea deal seemed to prioritize cost over justice, saying, “It’s easy to believe that doing right by the Jewish community was outweighed by the cost of bringing Kowatch to trial.”

He described the sentence as “a slap in the face not just to the victims but to the Jewish community.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)