Photo Courtesy of Melanie Burney / X
The white New Jersey man who went viral for his racist tirades on his Mount Laurel community and neighbors was sentenced to eight years in prison on Friday, the Inquirer reported.
Edward C. Mathews, 47, was brought into court in his orange jumpsuit, handcuffed, where he begged Superior Court Judge Gerard H. Breland to hand him a lighter sentence with snot in his nose, crying crocodile tears.
Matthews expressed his remorse and apologized to the victims for his “insensitive and disrespectful words in the past.” He claimed his actions destroyed his marriage (his wife filed for divorce) and hurt his family.
In his 15-minute statement, Matthews told Judge Breland, “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. I want to commit to rebuild the community.”
But Breland slapped him with his eight-year prison sentence and required him to serve at least four years of his sentence before he’s eligible for parole.
According to Matthews, He had previously served 2.5 years. The viral racist man clearly didn’t want to go to prison because he attempted to fire his lawyer, Ali Homayouni, arguing ineffective counseling ruined his chances of getting a lighter sentence. But Judge Breland rejected his argument.
In addition to his prison sentence, Matthews must pay $4,408 in restitution and undergo racial sensitivity training in prison.
Matthews went viral on July 2, 2021, after a video showed him verbally attacking a resident, telling him to “come see me,” and giving out his address.
But, residents claimed Matthews has been harassing and attacking residents in the Essex Place condominium association since 2020.
He was accused of spitting racial slurs, calling Black residents ” monkeys,” putting feces on their properties, threatening residents through letters and emails and shooting their vehicles with BB pellets.
Residents attempted to get police involved, but due to lack of evidence, officers couldn’t detain Matthews or charge him.
It wasn’t until after the viral video, where he gave out his address that police interfered and arrested Matthews. Many gathered outside his townhome, chanting his name and calling for his arrest.
Matthew tried to blame his actions on him being drunk and his long-running troubles with the homeowners association, but no one was buying that crap.