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Man pleads guilty to damaging buildings during Las Vegas protest

One of six people accused of defacing the Foley Federal Building and the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse during a Black Lives Matter protest last year has pleaded guilty to a federal charge, prosecutors said Monday.

Alejandro Avalos, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of depredation against property of the United States, according to a Department of Justice news release.

Prosecutors said Avalos and others threw paint on windows and kicked and struck the windows with objects. Video surveillance footage at the courthouse, as well as social media videos, showed Avalos striking the building’s windows with a metal bar and breaking at least one window, the news release stated.

Avalos is scheduled to be sentenced in August, when he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Three others — Reginald Lewis, 20; Kelton K. Simon, 35; and Alexander Kostan, 22 — also have pleaded guilty to one count of depredation against property of the United States and are awaiting sentencing.

Two others — Keion Joe’l Cherry, 25, and Jeanette R. Wallace, 35 — face the same charges and are awaiting trial.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.

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