April 7, 2007 -- A Bronx man was sentenced to eight years in prison yesterday for taking part in a vicious gang attack on a popular cross-dressing singer targeted because he was gay.

Akino George, 21, was one of four men who followed Kevin Aviance after the victim left a gay bar in the East Village.

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George pleaded guilty to assault in return for a sentence of eight years in prison and five years' probation from Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Louis Bart Stone.

Had he been convicted at trial of the top count against him, assault as a hate crime, George could have gotten up to 25 years behind bars.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Four young men, accused of brutally assaulting a nightclub singer Kevin Aviance in the East Village while yelling anti-gay slurs at him, pleaded guilty today to charges related to the attack.

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The four -- Akino George, Gregory Archie, Jarell Sears and Gerard Johnson -- admitted that last summer they chased and beat the singer, breaking his jaw.

Johnson, 17, of Manhattan, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault as a hate crime in exchange for a sentence of 15 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. George, of the Bronx, and S ears, of Newark, New Jersey, both 21, pleaded guilty to first-degree gang assault and will receive prison terms of eight years with five years of post-release supervision.

Archie, 19, of Manhattan, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault as a hate crime and will be sentenced to six years in prison with three years of post-release supervision. The four will be sentenced in April and May.