LAUREL, Del.- A Sussex County man has been sentenced to two years in prison for a hate crime involving a neighbor, the Delaware Department of Justice announced Monday.
James Raab, 38, of Laurel, was sentenced on April 22 after pleading guilty to felony hate crime, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, aggravated menacing, and resisting arrest. Raab was arrested in May of last year following an investigation into an incident in which he threatened his 53-year-old neighbor with a knife while yelling racial slurs at her. Raab had an active no contact order with the victim at the time of the incident.
"These crimes have the potential to shake entire communities and rob them of their sense of peace and security,” said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. “We cannot allow racial, religious, or other hate-motivated crime to fester. I am grateful to the prosecutors in the Division of Civil Rights & Public Trust and Delaware State Police for working to ensure that hate has no safe quarter in this state.”
Raab has remained locked up since his arrest on May, 25, 2021.