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Woman Who Used N-Word In Viral Margarita Fest Video Gets 90 Days In Jail

By Erica Demarest | October 26, 2017 6:01pm | Updated on October 26, 2017 6:04pm
 Jessica Sanders (left) is accused of calling Ernest Crim and his wife (right) n-----s at Margarita Fest in July 2016.
Jessica Sanders (left) is accused of calling Ernest Crim and his wife (right) n-----s at Margarita Fest in July 2016.
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Cook County Sheriff's Office; Ernest Crim

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — The woman who called a couple "n-----s" in a viral video from last year's Margarita Fest has been sentenced to 90 days in Cook County Jail.

Jessica Sanders, 27, was convicted last month of misdemeanor battery in the July 30, 2016, tirade, court records show. Cook County Judge James Linn found Sanders not guilty of a felony hate crime and aggravated battery in a public place.

Linn this week sentenced Sanders, of southwest suburban Alsip, to 90 days in jail. She was credited for serving three days while awaiting trial.

RELATED: Teacher Targeted In Racist Tirade At Margarita Festival 'Distraught'

According to prosecutors, Sanders accosted a suburban couple, repeatedly calling them "n------," during an argument over a bean bag game at Margarita Fest, an event hosted at the South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. Shore Drive, on July 30, 2016.

The couple — Ernest Crim and his wife, who are African-American suburban high school teachers — hoped to play a round of bags but could only find one bean bag, prosecutors said.

At one point, Sanders, who was playing nearby, threw a bean bag and never collected it. So Crim's wife went to retrieve it.

That's when Sanders, who is white, began calling the woman a "n-----" repeatedly. Crim took out his phone to record Sanders, but she knocked it to the ground, according to prosecutors.

Crim was still able to record Sanders telling him he was "acting like a n-----."

That video went viral that summer.

RELATED: Woman Who Used N-Word In Viral Margarita Fest Video Charged With Hate Crime

In an interview with DNAinfo, Crim said that he was shocked by the racist tirade, and his wife was so stressed that she broke down crying.

"What [Sanders] did is just a symptom of something that society, this country, is producing," Crim said. "She's just outward with it. Before this even happened, this has been a rough summer being a black person."