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FBI searching for Huber Heights man convicted of anti-Semitic hate crime

Posted at 10:05 PM, Sep 09, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-09 22:05:19-04

CINCINNATI — A man convicted of an anti-Semitic attack outside a Cincinnati restaurant is wanted again — this time for failing to report to Federal Correctional Institute Gilmer, where he was ordered to serve a 30-month sentence.

According to a Monday news release from the office of United States Attorney Benjamin Glassman, 34-year-old Izmir Koch could spend five more years in prison for failing to appear.

Koch was part of a group spotted shouting “I want to kill all of the Jews” and “I want to stab the Jews” outside the restaurant in February 2017, according to Glassman’s office. When a witness self-identified as Jewish in front of Koch, the group attacked him.

The assault left the victim with a broken bone in his face as well as bruised ribs. He wasn’t, in fact, Jewish. However, the fact that anti-Semitism had motivated Koch’s attack led to a hate crime charge and conviction in in federal court.

Koch was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment July 9. He agreed to self-report to Federal Correctional Institute Gilmer in West Virginia at the start of his sentence.

Anyone with information about his location should call the FBI at 513-421-4310.