Independence woman sentenced in hate crime

An Independence woman who admitted taking part in vandalism aimed at getting a biracial man to leave a mobile home park will go to prison for more than five years.

Federal prosecutors said 43-year-old Teresa Witthar of Independence received a 63-month sentence Monday from U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple.

Witthar and two Independence men, Charles Wilhelm and David Martin, were accused of entering the man’s mobile home in June 2006 and writing racially derogatory messages and slurs and drawing swastikas on the walls. Two days later, Witthar drove the men to the mobile home and the men set it on fire.

Witthar pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy, obstructing justice and violating the federal Fair Housing Act.

Wilhelm and Martin, both in their 20s, also have pleaded guilty and will be sentenced next month.