Suspect admits beating gay man in Springville
Joshua Holts pleaded guilty Monday to felony assault for beating a gay man outside a Springville bar last year, leaving the victim with facial injuries that required four surgeries.
As Erie County Judge Thomas P. Franczyk was about to start his nonjury trial, Holts pleaded guilty to second-degree assault for the Aug. 3, 2008, beating.
Holts, 26, a former Holland resident who recently moved to Poinciana Parkway in Cheektowaga, faces up to seven years in prison. Franczyk refused to give him a sentencing commitment but allowed Holts, a meat supervisor at a supermarket chain, to remain free on previously posted bail pending his Jan. 11 sentencing.
Prosecutor Robin J. Deubler said Holts’ 48-year-old victim just underwent his fourth surgery to try to correct the left eye damage and partial facial paralysis caused by the attack. The victim, a carpet installer from Atlanta, was back home visiting his mother the day of the assault. Deubler said the victim likely will need further surgery.
A neighboring business’ surveillance camera had recorded Holts repeatedly punching the victim in the face and hollering anti-gay slurs at him outside a bar, Deubler said. Holts was arrested by an Erie County sheriff’s deputy in another Springville bar a week after the attack.
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