EAST WINDSOR: Graffiti trial moves forward

   The three East Windsor men charged with scrawling anti-Semitic and profane graffiti on monuments and street signs in that township, Hightstown and Roosevelt are scheduled for a pre-indictment conference Nov. 12.
   Nikolai Afanassenkov, Max Drazdik and Nicholas Kurahara were charged in February with bias intimidation and bias-based criminal mischief. They turned themselves into police soon after being charged.
   They face up to five years in prison and $15,000 each in fines, said prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio.
   Pre-indictment conferences are used to bring cases to early resolution, especially for defendants, like the three in question, who have little or no prior criminal record. Defendants are normally offered plea agreements, but if the accused person either rejects a plea bargain or does not show up for the conference the case is immediately prepared for a grand jury, according to the prosecutor’s office.
   The three township men are all recent Hightstown High School graduates and played together in a band.
   They are accused of, in January, drawing a 1-square-foot swastika on the newly erected fountain at The Point in Hightstown, where Main, South Main and Mercer Streets meet; hateful graffiti on the memorial statue of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, two street signs, and the post office in Roosevelt; and another swastika on Etra Road in East Windsor.
   The acts sparked outrage in the three communities and more than 100 people gathered at The Point for a candlelight vigil in January to protest the event.