Failed to Complete Anti-Bias Training, Community Service
An East Meadow man who pleaded guilty to spray-painting antisemitic phrases on fences and in front of a local Jewish center in April 2024 was sentenced to felony Criminal Mischief as a Hate Crime charges and four years’ probation after he was unable to successfully complete the conditions of his previous plea, which included bias prevention training and community service.
Between April 14 and 15, 2024, Sebastian Patino Caceres spray-painted several antisemitic phrases on PVC fencing of the rear yards of private homes along Merrick Avenue. The phrases included “Zionism is Nazism,” “Stop the Genocide,” “Free Palestine,” and “F-ck Israel.” He also spray-painted one of the phrases across plastic sheeting affixed to the PVC fencing that protected a mural of Israeli citizens who were taken hostage by Hamas in October 2023.
Patino Caceres also spray-painted “Free Palestine” across the front cement sidewalk of the East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center at 1400 Prospect Avenue.
Patino Caceres, 23, was arrested on April 16, 2024, by detectives of the Nassau County Police Department’s First Squad. He pleaded guilty on January 16, 2025, before Judge Robert Schwartz to Criminal Mischief in the Fourth Degree (a Class E felony). As part of his plea, the defendant agreed to undergo six months of bias prevention training, 100 hours of community service, and take a guided tour of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center (HTMC) in Glen Cove. Had he successfully completed these conditions, Patino Caceres would have been sentenced to a Class A misdemeanor with three years’ probation.
The defendant, however, was unsuccessful in meeting the conditions and, as such, was sentenced on the felony charge to four years’ probation on Friday, November 7, 2025.
“My office will never accept antisemitism in Nassau County, and while we will always extend opportunities for defendants to learn and grow from their hateful and misguided acts, when a defendant refuses the chance to become a more tolerant member of society, they will meet the appropriate legal consequences,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
“This defendant attended HMTC’s guided tour, but the dedicated staff trying to connect with Patino Caceres found him closed-minded and lacking remorse or regret for his actions,” Donnelly continued. “He gave endless excuses before completing his community service and attended only one of his mandatory bias prevention sessions. His paltry attempts at atonement were clear to the judge, who made the right decision and sentenced him on felony charges and upgraded his probation.”