Scott Thompson, a 22-year-old Farmington man, was found guilty Tuesday of kidnapping and aggravated assault in the September 2007 attack on a gay man, but jurors rejected a hate-crime enhancement, the Farmington Daily Times reported.

Thompson now faces up to 10 years in prison, but the hate-crime enhancement would have added one year in prison with each count, the Daily Times said.

The victim, Matthew Shetima, testified at the trial that he was called over to talk with Thompson and two other men while walking near the Glade Inn in Farmington, and that Thompson punched him in the face and dragged him into a hotel room where several men attacked him, the paper reported.

Thompson allegedly made anti-gay remarks to Shetima during the attack, prosecutors said.

Cosme Ripol, Thompson's attorney, told jurors during closing arguments that the attack came about because Thompson thought Shetima had taken his beer and had nothing to do with Shetima's sexual orientation, the Daily Times said.

"Mean-spirited statements are what people say when they're mad at each other -- it doesn't mean you're a bigot," Ripol said in closing.  "It's jkust what pompous, immature young men do."

Two other defendants in the case -- 37-year-old Craig Yazzie and 40-year-old Jerry Paul -- both previously pleaded guilty to reduced charges of fourth-degree false imprisonment and misdemeanor aggravated battery, the Daily Times reported.

Hate-crime enhancements were dropped against Yazzie and Paul as part of their plea agreements, the paper said. 

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