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Former Pace Student Admits to Dumping Korans in Toilet
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 4, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 4, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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The serial flusher responsible for two Koran toilet dunkings at Pace University has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 300 hours of community service. Stanislav Shmulevich, a Russian immigrant, was a business major at the time of the incidents, in which a copy of the Koran was twice discovered in the toilet – the first time "covered in feces" – in October and November 2006.
Shmulevich remained at large until last summer, when police connected him to surveillance footage outside a meditation room from which the Korans were stolen. He was initially charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison. Shmulevich reportedly told detectives that "he committed the acts out of anger toward a group of Muslim students with whom he had a recent disagreement."
Since the charge was plea-bargained down to disorderly conduct, Shmulevich’s lawyer was free to assert yesterday that “there was no hate crime here." Many conservative pundits wholeheartedly agreed; after all, it's not like Shmulevich desecrated a Bible or crucifix.
Tagged
hate crime
koran
pace
pace university
Shmulevich
Student
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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