Clark County man sentenced to 20 years in prison for hate crimes against Haitians

DAYTON, Ohio – A Springfield, Ohio, man was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 240 months in prison for crimes related to targeting and attacking Haitians residing in the area.

Izaye Eubanks, 22, pleaded guilty in August to both federal and local crimes. He admitted to committing hate crimes against at least 8 Haitian nationals.

“This defendant is being held accountable for repeatedly assaulting and robbing members of the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, because of their national origin,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Attacks like these, where a group of individuals is singled out and targeted for violent assaultive conduct because of who they are, will not be tolerated. The Justice Department will continue to enforce our federal criminal civil rights laws and prosecute those who commit violent, bias-motivated crimes in our country.”

“Hate and discrimination have never had a place in our society. As today’s significant prison sentence shows, they have no place today,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker. “We will continue to prosecute hate crimes to the fullest extent of the law.”

“The hate crimes committed by Izaye Eubanks threatened and intimidated the immigrant community throughout the region,” stated FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge J. William Rivers. “Because hate crimes have such a wide-ranging impact, investigating these crimes is a top priority for the FBI.”

According to court documents, in January and February 2023, Eubanks committed various assaults, robberies and a carjacking of Haitian individuals because of the victims’ actual and perceived national origin.

Eubanks would travel throughout Springfield looking for individuals he believed were from Haiti and would then attack the individuals, usually by punching them and knocking them to the ground before robbing them of their money, cell phones, a vehicle, and other personal belongings.

For example, on Jan. 29, 2023, Eubanks assaulted and robbed a victim while the victim was walking to wire $300 in cash to his mother in Haiti. Eubanks punched the victim in the back of the head and neck, causing him to briefly black out, then robbed the victim of his cash, cell phone, and ATM cards.

That same day, Eubanks assaulted a victim as he left Friendly’s Bakery, a Haitian market. Eubanks grabbed the victim by his shirt, pulled him out of his vehicle, and punched him in the face before stealing the victim’s vehicle.

On Feb. 1, 2023, Eubanks directed juveniles to help him complete four separate attacks on five victims.

Eubanks will serve his federal sentence concurrently to the one imposed in Clark County Court of Common Pleas. Eubanks pleaded guilty to five counts of 2^nd degree felonious robbery in his local case. He will serve four years in prison for each robbery count concurrently to federal imprisonment.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Kristen M. Clarke; J. William Rivers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Field Division; Clark County Prosecutor Daniel P. Driscoll; and Springfield Police Chief Allison Elliott announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Michael J. Newman. Assistant United States Attorneys Amy M. Smith and Ryan A. Saunders are representing the United States in this case.

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