3 sentenced in death of NYC gay man

Three men convicted of beating a gay man and then chasing him onto a highway where he was struck by a car and killed were sentenced to prison on Tuesday, prosecutors said.

All three had been part of what prosecutors called a hate-inspired robbery scheme.

On Oct. 8, 2006, they found Michael Sandy in an Internet chat room frequented by gay men, lured him out to Brooklyn's remote Plum Beach with a promise of a date and then attacked him. When Sandy tried to escape, he was hit by a car on the Belt Parkway.

Anthony Fortunato, 21, who had told jurors they shouldn't convict him of a hate crime because he's gay was sentenced to seven to 21 years in prison for second-degree manslaughter as a hate crime and attempted petit larceny.

John Fox, 20, was sentenced to seven to 21 years in prison for second-degree manslaughter as a hate crime and attempted robbery as a hate crime.

Ilya Shurov, 21, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison for second-degree manslaughter as a hate crime and attempted robbery as a hate crime.

A fourth man, Gary Timmons, had already pleaded guilty to attempted robbery as a hate crime and testified in the case in exchange for a four-year sentence.

Fortunato claimed in court that the attack was not motivated by hate. But prosecutors argued that under state hate crimes law, they didn't have to prove that Sandy's attackers hated gay men — only that they picked their victim because of his sexual orientation.