A 38-year-old Laurel man has been sentenced to two years in prison for a hate crime involving a neighbor, authorities said Monday.

James Raab was sentenced April 22 after pleading guilty to felony hate crime, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, aggravated menacing and resisting arrest. He was arrested following an investigation into an incident in which he threatened a neighbor with a knife while yelling racial slurs, according to the Delaware Department Justice.

“These crimes have the potential to shake entire communities and rob them of their sense of peace and security,” said Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings. “We cannot allow racial, religious or other hate-motivated crime to fester.

“I am grateful to the prosecutors in the Division of Civil Rights & Public Trust and Delaware State Police for working to ensure that hate has no safe quarter in this state.”

Raab has remained incarcerated since his arrest on May, 25, 2021. This sentence was secured by Deputy Attorney General David Skoranski with the assistance of DOJ Paralegal Trisha McGinnis following an investigation led by the Delaware State Police Troop 5.