Nov 21, 2008  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO JR  | COMMENTS     

A man arrested for assaulting a gay man in Georgetown has pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court to two charges, including felony assault with bias intent.

Ruddad Abdulgader, 19, faces a maximum sentence of five and a half years in prison for the bias-related assault charge and the second charge to which he pleaded guilty — possession of a prohibited weapon, a liquor bottle.

In appearing Nov. 12 before Judge Harold Cushionberry, Abdulgader acknowledged a statement by prosecutors that he used a glass vodka bottle to strike a 23-year-old man in the face while making anti-gay remarks, knocking him unconscious in an unprovoked attack Oct. 3.

According to a statement released by the United States Attorney’s office, Abdulgader “admitted that he hit the victim in his face with the bottle based on his prejudice against the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation.”

Cushionberry scheduled a sentencing hearing for Abdulgader on Feb. 6, 2009.