A Eugene man whose Confederate flag was confiscated last year after he admitted his role in a high-profile case of racial intimidation is now headed to prison because he failed to complete a court-ordered cultural awareness class and disregarded several other terms of his probation. Lane County Circuit Judge Jay McAlpin on Monday revoked Matthew Robert Booster’s probation and ordered him to serve up to 16 months in state prison. Booster, 23, was initially sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty in July 2012 to one felony count of first-degree intimidation.
The plea deal that prosecutors struck with Booster included the unusual provision that he forfeit for destruction a large Confederate flag that flew on his pickup as he drove toward a 15-year-old mixed-race boy in a downtown Springfield parking lot.
Although Booster and three Springfield teenagers who rode with him in the pickup had shouted threats and racial epithets at the victim, Booster said in court last year that his flag had “nothing to do with racism” and was a symbol of his “fairly deep ties with a Southern pride lifestyle.”
Booster’s original plea agreement specified that he could go to prison if he failed to comply with the terms of his probation. Court records list five separate conditions that Booster has since violated.
McAlpin ruled Monday that Booster had not completed a required class covering cultural awareness issues. Booster also admitted to breaking his probation by using or possessing a controlled substance; changing his address or job without permission from his probation officer; failing to promptly and truthfully answer “all reasonable inquiries” made by probation officials; and otherwise failing to comply with his probation officer’s directions, according to court records.
Lane County Chief Deputy District Attorney Patty Perlow said the probation officer “had tried working with” Booster to get him to follow the rules. But when those attempts failed, prosecutors ordered Booster to appear Monday in court, Perlow said.
Booster’s court-appointed attorney, John Bennington, did not immediately return a telephone message left Monday afternoon at his office.
The original crime involving Booster unfolded on May 28, 2012, as Booster drove three teenagers through Springfield. One of the juveniles told investigators that the dark-skinned victim had made a disrespectful gesture to the Confederate flag, which prompted Booster to skid his truck across a gravel parking lot toward the fleeing boy.
The victim hid in nearby bushes and was able to leave the area after phoning his mother for help, officials said.
In his plea petition, Booster acknowledged that he and his passengers placed the victim “in fear of imminent serious physical injury because of (their) perception of the victim’s race or color.”
Booster’s accomplices, a girl and two boys, were charged with misdemeanor intimidation and had their cases handled through the county’s juvenile justice system. The Register-Guard generally does not identify juvenile offenders unless they are charged with major felony crimes.