The Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office said the three men approached a group of 11 students and community members while they were praying in late November.

TAMPA, Fla. — The three men accused of harassing Muslim USF students during a prayer session on campus have pleaded not guilty.

On Monday, the Hillsborough County Judicial Circuit announced that Richard Penkoski, Christopher Svochak and Ricardo Yepez all entered not guilty pleas on misdemeanor charges for disturbing a religious assembly and disorderly conduct.

The pleas come one month after the charges were filed by the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office and almost three months after the incident took place.


Muslim students harassed in on-campus prayer incident

On the morning of Nov. 18, 2025, the three men approached a group of 11 students and community members while they were praying and repeatedly harassed and confronted them until they were forced to end the gathering, according to the state attorney’s office.

A cell phone video recording obtained by 10 Tampa Bay News shows the trio shouting obscenities, spitting and offering bacon to the group of students. 

“I spit on the grave of Muhammad,” one of the men can be heard shouting. “You’re going to burn in hell. You need to repent. You need to get saved. You need to be set free. Jesus Christ is coming soon… Take that towel off your head.”

The Muslim students seen in the video told 10 Tampa Bay News back in November that they gather for prayer often on campus, and this is the first time a situation such as this one has happened. 

The state attorney’s office said video evidence, including videos posted by the defendants themselves, was used to determine that the students were targeted for religious reasons. Back in November, 10 Tampa Bay News reached out to the group that livestreamed the event. They claim to be kingdom reconcilers following the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

USF students had previously called for authorities to investigate the harassment as a hate crime. The state attorney’s office said it did not seek a hate crime enhancement because “the criminal justice system punishes actions, not words alone.”

In a statement to 10 Tampa Bay News, the lawyer for the three accused men said:

“It is very unfortunate that the State Attorney’s office decided to file misdemeanor charges against Christopher Svochak, Ricardo Yepez and Richard Penkoski. 

I am very surprised that this particular state attorney’s office made this filing decision as it prides itself on prosecuting real crime and no crimes were committed in this case. 

We provided the state attorney’s office with proof that this particular Muslim group was having an unlawful assembly on USF properties without the permission of USF and not following the policies and protocols in place for their assembly or their pancake breakfast on the parking garage rooftop. No group is above the law nor policies and procedures of USF, including this Muslim group. 

We will aggressively defend the 1st Amendment rights of my clients as they are permitted to practice their Christian religion and protest peacefully. These are the fundamental pillars of Freedom of Religion in the United States. What was very telling is that this Muslim group held a press conference with CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), a group that the State of Florida has deemed a terrorist group.”

A few days before the charges were filed, Yepez and Svochak received a trespassing warning at a separate event led by CAIR on Jan. 11.

The same group that livestreamed the events from November also streamed this incident, which shows law enforcement on scene as a confrontation takes place.

10 Tampa Bay News’ Andrea Chu, Cristina Mendez and Hadia Moosvi contributed to this report.