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Two plead guilty in cross-burning incident
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By Bob Dumas
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File photos
From top: Christopher Hudak and Ryan Martin admitted to constructing a wooden cross then burning in on the lawn of the Artope family in November 2007.
Two Westchester men have plead guilty to charges that they burned a cross on an African-American’s family’s lawn in Cortlandt last November.
Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore said that Christopher Hudak, 20, of Cortlandt, plead guilty to the entire five-count indictment, including one count of criminal mischief in the third degree, a hate crime and Class D felony; one count of aggravated harassment in the first degree, a Class E felony; one count of criminal mischief, third degree, Class E felony; one count of intimidating a witness in the third degree, a Class E felony, and one count of arson in the fifth degree, a Class A misdemeanor.
Hudak’s co-defendant, Ryan Martin, 20, of Montrose, plead guilty to a four-count indictment – the same charges Hudak faced, except for a witness intimidation allegation.
Hudak and Martin, both white, admitted to constructing a 4-foot tall wooden cross and setting it on fire on the lawn of the Artope family on Nov. 21, an act that the D.A.’s office said was an apparent retaliation for a fight that had occurred earlier that day in school. Sophomore Timothy Artope, 15, had engaged in an altercation with Christopher Hudak’s sister, sophomore Danielle Hudak and another girl, who had allegedly called him a racially derogatory name. Both students attend the Hendrick Hudson School District. Artope was suspended from school for four months as a result of the incident; both girls were suspended for 10 days.
Sentencing has been scheduled for Oct. 28. Hudak’s bail of $10,000 will be continued until then; he will be required to wear an electronic home monitor bracelet. Martin’s bail of $20,000 will also be continued.
Both defendants face a maximum of seven years in state prison on the top count in the indictment, criminal mischief in the third degree as a hate crime.
The incident left the community of Cortlandt shaken last fall and citizens banded together in its wake to form the Cortlandt Diversity Task Force. Garrison Jackson, head of the task force, said that even though the incident is nearly closed now – with guilty pleas accepted and sentencing set for two months from now – the group is still needed.
“Clearly this was a horrible incident and it brought things to a head,” he said. “But just because it’s settled doesn’t mean there’s no need for the task force. Now, when these acts of hate happen, there’s a system in place where people can go. The more dialog the better when [hate] raises its ugly head.”
Jackson said the community has a lot going for it and the recent court proceedings were a painful reminder of what happened.
“There are so many positives here, it’s sad that we had to go relive that,” he said.
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