November 24, 2024

Prosecutors and Defense lawyers are asking that a Paola man be given a sentence of two years and three months in prison after he was convicted of a hate crime for threatening an African American juvenile with a knife.

Colton Ray Donner pleaded guilty in February to a racially motivated hate crime. The judge is not bound by the sentencing recommendation; although, he is likely to follow it. He could sentence Donner to a maximum of 10 years in prison.

September, 2019, Donner got out of his car when he saw a black juvenile on the sidewalk and approached him, while brandishing a knife. He threatened him, shouted racial slurs and told him that Paola was “a white town.”

According to court filings, Donner was also charged with domestic battery in May 2020. He pleaded guilty to that charge, after spending 64 days in custody.

He was scheduled to be sentenced on the hate crime charge today, Wednesday, June 29,2022.

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