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"Fat Nick" Minucci, sentenced to fifteen years for an assault on a black man in Howard Beach, is about to head upstate, where authorities will decide if he needs to be kept in protective custody. His lawyer is unafraid: "Once black people know him, they love him."

Of course they do. He's into hip-hop and baseball; what's not to love?

Lawyer: Blacks 'love' Fat Nick [NYDN]