MENTAL STUDY ORDERED FOR HATE-CRIME CONVICT.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

A reputed skinhead from Lancaster convicted of committing two hate crimes as part of a campaign to terrorize African-Americans in the Antelope Valley was ordered Monday to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter ordered the 90-day study for 23-year-old Danny Williams, who pleaded guilty in October to committing the racially motivated attacks, one of which triggered a string of hate crimes in 1996.

``The judge ordered an evaluation of Williams as part of a sentencing provision, which allows judges to order evaluations to learn more about his mental situation and whether or not he's mentally competent to be sentenced,'' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Gennaco.

A report will be written that will assist the judge in determining whether Williams should be sent to prison or committed to another facility, such as a psychiatric hospital.

The judge raised questions in court Monday about Williams after reading a pre-sentencing report, but Gennaco said he can't comment on the report's contents. Williams' drug and alcohol use also was brought up during the hearing, Gennaco said.

Williams will return for sentencing April 6.

Williams entered his plea in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles after prosecutors agreed to dismiss a conspiracy charge and to not charge him with escaping from a drug treatment center while awaiting trial.

Williams faces a maximum of up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Williams' attorneys said his client likely will receive a sentence of about five years under federal sentencing guidelines.

Williams, who has a tattoo of a swastika on his right hand and a tattoo of a hooded Ku Klux Klan figure on his left shoulder, has denied in court that he was a member of the Nazi Low Riders gang.

Prosecutors described the gang as a skinhead group in Lancaster that advocated the separation of the races and the use of violence and intimidation to rid the streets of Lancaster of African-Americans.

Williams was charged in the July 8, 1996, attack in which 16-year-old Marcus Cotton was stabbed and assaulted by three white males with shaved heads who jumped out of a car as Cotton walked with his cousin along Division Street near Avenue J.

Williams also was charged in an April 28, 1996, attack on Eric Miller, who was assaulted outside a Lancaster video store by two assailants wielding a baseball bat.

Within 10 days of the July 8 attack, four more hate crimes were reported. The string of violence prompted a Lancaster City Hall peace rally, establishment of a hate-crime hotline and investigations by a hate-crime task force.