Allen Andrade, 32, of Thornton, was sentenced to life in prison without parole after being convicted of killing Angie Zapata, 18. The jury deliberated for just two hours before finding Andrade guilty.

In handing down the sentence, District Judge Marcelo Kopcow said he hoped Andrade thinks “about the violence and the brutality … and the pain you caused not only your family, but the family of Angie Zapata.”

The case was believed to be the first prosecution under Colorado’s bias-crime statute for a crime involving a transgender person. Gay rights activists hope publicity from the case would pressure Congress to add sexual orientation and gender identity to a federal hate crime law.

Prosecutors had argued Andrade knew for hours that Zapata was biologically male and beat her to death because he disliked gays. They said Andrade had attended a court hearing with Zapata where court officials used her legal name, Justin.

A witness at that hearing also testified that when Zapata spoke, she sounded like a man trying to disguise his voice.

Andrade’s attorney didn’t deny that he killed Zapata, but said he had just learned Zapata’s identity after spending hours with her and he lashed out without thinking. Defense attorney Annette Kundelius said Andrade and Zapata agreed to meet for sex after Zapata deceptively described herself as a straight female.

“This is not something that people plan for,” she told jurors. “This isn’t a situation where people know how they would act.”

During the trial, prosecutors played recorded jail conversations where Andrade referred to Zapata as “it” and said it wasn’t as if he “killed a straight, law-abiding citizen.”

“His own statements in the jail call betray the way he values Angie’s life, the way he thought of her as less than, less than us because of who she was,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Robb Miller told jurors.

“Everyone deserves equal protection under the law and no one deserves to die like this,” Miller said.

Kundelius said Andrade’s statements were jokes made by a man who knew he was innocent.

“Was it in poor taste, was it a smart thing to say?” Kundelius asked jurors. “No. But it doesn’t mean he committed murder.”

Maria Zapata, the victim’s mother, called the murder “a selfish act” by Andrade.

“But there is something that he can never take away is the love and the memories my family and I have of my baby, my beautiful, beautiful baby,” she told the court before the sentencing.

Andrade’s sister, Christina Cruz, said her family was “not supporting the outcome, but we do support him as my brother.”

The former Culture Club singer was tried under his real name, George O’Dowd.

Court was told that O’Dowd, 47, met 29-year-old Audun Carlsen on a gay internet site and agreed to meet at the singer’s home where Carlsen was to pose for a naked photo shoot.

The two men later exchanged emails and at one point O’Dowd accused Carlsen of hacking into his computer and stealing the photos. Nevertheless, O’Dowd invited Carlsen to another photo shoot at his home.

It was a plot to exact revenge, the prosecution said, for what O’Dowd believed was theft of the original pictures.

After O’Dowd had taken several photos of Carlsen, the performer invited the younger man into his bedroom.

When Carlsen entered the room, he realized a second man had joined O’Dowd.

O’Dowd has refused to name the other man, Norton told the court.

“The two men grabbed Mr Carlsen and forced him, we say, to the floor,” prosecutor Heather Norton told the jury during the trial.

“Mr O’Dowd produced a set of handcuffs. They placed one end on Mr Carlsen’s right wrist and the other end was placed through a hook that was screwed to a fixture near the bed.”

She told the jury that Carlsen, “was frightened, shaking and crying. His fear increased when Mr O’Dowd returned into the room carrying with him a box.”

The box, said Norton, contained chains and leather straps.

Carlsen managed to free himself by pulling a hook the handcuffs were attached to from the wall.  He escaped through a window clad in only his underwear and called police from a local news vendor’s stand.

O’Dowd did not testify on his own behalf. In a transcript of a police interrogation, O’Dowd admitted he handcuffed Carlsen but denied punching or assaulting the hustler.

The performer’s attorney suggested that bruises Carlsen had could have been due to the fact that he was HIV positive.

O’Dowd was released on bail following the verdict. He is due to be sentenced Jan. 16.  Judge David Radford indicated jail was a real possibility for the singer.

“This is a case where custody is the more likely option,” Radford said.

It is the latest brush O’Dowd has had with the law.

In 2006, a judge in New York City sentenced him to five days of community service after being convicted of filing a false police report.

The singer had called police in October 2005 with a bogus report of a burglary by a male prostitute at his lower Manhattan apartment. When police went to investigate they found cocaine inside.

He was originally charged with drug offenses but under an agreement with prosecutors he pleaded guilty to the lesser charges and worked off his sentence picking garbage.