DENVER — The final defendant involved in the cross-burning “hoax” that rocked the Colorado Springs community during the 2023 mayoral runoff election was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison on Wednesday.

Derrick Bernard, 36, and two others were found guilty of burning a cross and writing a racial expletive on one of Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade’s campaign posters during the election. The three then disseminated photos and videos of the early morning incident on April 23, 2023, online to fake a hate crime.

Bernard was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and another count of maliciously conveying false information to intimidate someone by means of fire. His sentence will run consecutively with his life sentence for murder in an unrelated case.

The defendant maintained at his U.S. District Court hearing that the three’s efforts were intended to get Mobolade elected as the city’s first Black mayor. Bernard and his defense attorney, Tyrone Glover, emphasized that, however “misguided” the trio’s intentions were, they were not motivated by hate.

The point was a topic of discussion during a sentence-enhancement motion that would decide if Bernard’s actions rose to the level of a hate crime, which would increase his sentencing by three “levels.”

“This was a crime of deception … My team, my people, (did) anything to get to the finish line,” Bernard told the courtroom. “There was no hate in it.”

Judge Regina Rodriguez ruled that the “plain language” from legal documents indicate the defendant’s actions were a hate crime, granting the sentence enhancer. However, she acknowledged that there is “reasonable dispute” that the crimes weren’t motivated by hate, so she did not give him the maximum sentencing of 57 months.

Rodriguez said there was “no doubt” in her mind that Bernard and the others believed they intended to help Mobolade, but the intention does not outweigh the effects.

The use of a universal symbol of hate like cross burning, coupled with the racial expletive written on the campaign poster, left “absolutely no doubt” in the judge’s mind that it inspired “fear, terror and a threat to Mobolade and his family,” Rodriguez said.

Mobolade spoke to the court about some of those impacts ahead of the sentence ruling.

Dressed in a familiar blue suit he has come to be known by, Mobolade said he and his family stepped into politics for the first time in 2023 with an “open heart.”

Bernard “took advantage of my faith in people,” Mobolade said. “We were so concerned for our safety, especially for the safety of our children … We stopped walking them to school. My wife had nightmares about our home being set on fire.”

The incident has made Mobolade be more “cautious” and “aware” of people, he said, and it’s also caused harm to members of the community.

“I do not hold grudges,” Mobolade told Bernard. “But I’ve got to be honest. This one is hard. I want to say I forgive. I want say that I will pray for you, but the truth is, I am struggling.”

Mobolade ended his statement by calling for accountability and expressing hope that Bernard and the other co-defendants take responsibility for their actions.

The court also gave Bernard a chance to speak.

Dressed in an orange prison outfit, Bernard hunched over the podium and spoke into the mic.

“The true victims are Colorado Springs taxpayers,” he said. “This man’s no victim.”

He said it was “dead wrong” to betray the trust of the community, but he remained adamant that Mobolade knew the three were not fueled by hate and wanted to help.

“Threats against public officials are very serious matters and certainly have been on the rise,” Rodriguez told Bernard. “It is necessary to mark this with a sentence of significance.”

The judge applied another 2-level sentence enhancer after finding that Bernard served as a leader for the two other defendants, Deanna Crystal West and Ashley Blackcloud, who is Bernard’s wife.

West avoided prison time and was sentenced to three years of probation after testifying against Bernard and Blackcloud during trial. Blackcloud was sentenced to one year and a day in federal prison in January.

Appearing out of custody, Blackcloud told reporters that the “mastermind behind this” was the “one they’re claiming is the victim.” She said Bernard’s punishment was “ridiculous” because of its length and that they will appeal their sentences.

Bernard is already serving life in prison without a chance of parole after he was convicted of ordering the 2019 murder in Colorado Springs of William Underwood, who went by the rapper name “FYL Jackk.”