Unswayed by a former skinhead’s claim that he had given up white supremacist beliefs, a judge sentenced him Monday to more than a decade in prison for the 1989 killing of a black man.
Thomas Gibison was sentenced to the maximum term of 12½ to 25 years in prison Monday for conspiracy to commit murder, as well as weapons charges, connected to the 1989 shooting of Aaron Wood.
A friend of Gibison testified they went to North Philadelphia to find a black man to kill so they could earn a white supremacist tattoo.
Before being sentenced, Gibison told Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina he was “ashamed” and “embarrassed” of his skinhead past.
“That entire philosophy, I reject it,” he said.
Gibison was earlier acquitted of murder and a hate crime charge. Relatives of the victim said Monday that they had some sense of closure but no justice.
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“He got away with murder,” said Wood’s uncle, Arnold Wynn. “I’ll feel until the day I die that we didn’t get justice for the family.”
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The charges were filed after a former girlfriend gave federal agents a tip in the case.
Gibison already was serving a 10-year sentence on weapons offenses when he was charged.














