Kevin Hoffman is awaiting trial for the March 2001 murder of Michael Sortal, a Fort Lauderdale gay man. Prosecutors say Hoffman and his former roommate, Geoffrey Kennedy, targeted gay men they met at local bars.
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By PHIL LaPADULA
Friday, January 06, 2006
A Fort Lauderdale man, who is awaiting trial for the murder of a local gay man, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Dec. 27 for violating his probation in a separate attempted murder case.
Kevin Hoffman, 29, who allegedly joked about his violent acts against gay men, has been charged with murder in the March 2001 killing of Michael Sortal, a gay Fort Lauderdale man who worked as a warehouse manager. Sortal was robbed, beaten and strangled to death.
Hoffman was on probation after pleading guilty to the attempted murder of another gay man, Timothy Thorne. In that case, Thorne had asked the judge and prosecutors to approve a deal that included Hoffman’s family paying $20,000 in restitution.
Authorities said Hoffman violated his probation by having marijuana in his jail cell and falsely accusing a Broward Sheriff’s Office sergeant of assaulting him.
According to prosecutors, Hoffman and his former roommate, Geoffrey Kennedy, targeted gay men whom they met in local bars to rob and assault them. In January 2002, Kennedy, 31, was convicted of killing Sortal and sentenced to life in prison.
At first, Kennedy implicated Hoffman in the killing, but in February 2002 he changed his story and claimed he acted alone. Kennedy’s recantation, along with DNA evidence that was tainted at a police lab, led prosecutors to drop the murder case against Hoffman and release him in June 2003. But he was arrested again later that same year when additional DNA evidence was found and new witnesses came forward.
“We found DNA samples that had never gotten near the tainted samples, so we tested them,” said Broward prosecutor Howard Scheinberg.
In addition, Scheinberg said new witnesses came forward and said Hoffman had told them about killing Sortal.
“A number of the witnesses were concerned that [Hoffman] spoke of how he enjoyed targeting gay men in Fort Lauderdale,” Scheinberg said. “He made jokes about it. He was going to predominately gay locations and specifically targeting men not just for robbery but for gratuitous violence after the robberies.”
Hoffman’s lawyer, Patrick Rastatter, said Kennedy changed his story twice regarding Hoffman’s involvement in Sortal’s murder.
“Whether Kevin was involved or not depends on what day you talk to Kennedy,” Rastatter said.
Regarding Hoffman’s probation violation, Rastatter said his client received bruises on his face and a fractured eye socket after being struck by a pepper spray can allegedly thrown by a Broward Sheriff’s sergeant.
“A forensic pathologist testified that his injuries were consistent with being struck by a pepper spray can,” Rastatter said.
That claim, however, was refuted by the testimony of another inmate, who said he and Hoffman got in a fight in which Hoffman sustained the facial injuries.
But Rastatter said officials at first said Hoffman’s injuries were self-inflicted.
“Their second account was that another inmate beat him up,” Rastatter said.
Rastatter added, however, that he thought Judge Susan Lebow’s 15-year sentence was “very reasonable regarding the circumstances. She could have given him life.”
Hoffman’s murder trial is scheduled for April 12, but Scheinberg said it could be delayed.
Phil LaPadula can be reached at plapadula@expressgaynews.com.
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