DES MOINES, Iowa - Nicole Poole Franklin on Thursday was sentenced to 25 years in prison on federal hate crimes charges after admitting to the attempted murder of two children in 2019 because of their race.
In separate State proceedings, Poole Franklin had already been sentenced up to 25 years, including a mandatory minimum of 17 1/2, on state attempted murder charges on Dec. 9, 2019, attacks in Des Moines.
43-year-old Poole Franklin who pleaded guilty to two federal hate crimes charges in May was sentenced to 304 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose
Both Federal and State punishment will run concurrently. Since the federal system does not have parole, she will be incarcerated for long.
According to prosecutors filing, Poole Franklin targeted a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl who was walking down the street near their schools because of their race and ethnicity.
Prosecutors say she first drove over a curb and struck the 12-year-old Black boy, narrowly missed the boy’s older sibling who was walking alongside him. According to them, she ran him over because he’s “just like ISIS” and “he’s not supposed to be there and he’s going to take me out.”
Later on, Poole Franklin drove up over a sidewalk and stroke a 14-year-old Latina girl, who sustained bruises, cuts and a concussion. Poole Franklin said she targeted the girl because she assumed the girl to be Mexican and was taking over “our homes, and our jobs” and “wasn’t supposed to be in the country,” the filing said.
Poole Franklin was later arrested after fleeing both crashes and going to a gas station where she called an employee and customers racial epithets.s, but for the malicious beliefs behind them, is what our justice system
“Holding Poole Franklin accountable, not only for her intentional action should be, and a must to provide just punishment, afford adequate deterrence, and protect the public from further crimes by this defendant,” prosecutors wrote.
Poole Franklin’s public defender appealed to Judge Rose for a maximum of a 27-year term. He argued in a filing that she was suffering from “severe pre-existing mental illnesses that were exacerbated by methamphetamine use, numerous extremely difficult life events hitting at nearly the same time, and with some of the worst aspects of the culture acting behind the scenes and further poisoning her mental state.”
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