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Final defendant in videotaped beating case pleads guilty

Thursday, July 12, 2018
CHICAGO -- A 20-year-old man has become the last of four defendants to plead guilty to taking part in the beating of a mentally disabled teenager that was livestreamed on Facebook.

Tesfaye Cooper pleaded guilty Thursday to committing a hate crime and aggravated kidnapping. The charges are the same that Jordan Hill pleaded guilty to last week during a hearing in which he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
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The Chicago Tribune reports Cooper's sentencing was previously delayed so his attorney could prepare an argument for leniency.

The incident that took place in a Chicago apartment in January 2017 received national attention when one of the suspects posted video showing four African-Americans taunting the bound-and-gagged white teen and using profanities against white people as they attacked him.
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