Two Men Ordered to Pay $1 Million in Racially Motivated Attacks
In Biddeford, a judge has ruled that two Maine men convicted of racially motivated hate crimes must pay more than $1 million in damages to one of their victims.
Maurice Diggins and Dusty Leo, both from Biddeford, were found guilty in 2020 for attacking two Black men in separate incidents in Biddeford and Portland in 2018. During the attacks, they shouted racial slurs and even chased one of the victims with a truck. Both victims suffered broken jaws and needed emergency facial surgery.
The court sentenced Diggins to 10 years in prison, while Leo received a 3-year sentence. One of the victims filed a civil suit to cover medical expenses.
As reported by the Press Herald, the judge has ordered Diggins and Leo to pay $700,000 in punitive damages and $500,000 in compensatory damages, totaling $1.2 million. It’s acknowledged that the defendants may not have this amount, but there are procedures to determine their assets and seize them to cover the payments.
Notably, Diggins was the first person sentenced for a federal hate crime in Maine.
