SAN JOSE — Prosecutors will not retry two young white men on hate crime charges for bullying a black suitemate at San Jose State, but on Monday they asked a judge to impose harsh sentences on the men and an accomplice for misdemeanor battery convictions to send a message that “prejudice is not a prank.”

A jury deadlocked last month on hate crime allegations against former San Jose State students Colin Warren and Logan Beaschler, both 20, and acquitted suitemate Joseph “Brett” Bomgardner, who was suspended from the school. All three were convicted of battery for fastening, or attempting to fasten, the head of Donald Williams Jr. inside a U-shaped bicycle lock.

The Feb. 22 decision by the jury of six men and six women — none of whom were black — upset many on campus and in the African-American community who believed the three were guilty of something more serious than a misdemeanor.

On Monday, the District Attorney’s Office announced it will seek four-month jail sentences for the men, terms that would be extremely unusual for misdemeanor convictions, which normally carry a sentence of community service in lieu of jail.

Attorney Chuck Mesirow, who represented Beaschler at trial, said the jail time would be excessive.

“These are 20-year-old boys who acted inappropriately and insensitively, but they are not violent individuals,” Mesirow said. “I’ve had cases in which the parties were a lot more violent but didn’t get four months.”

Prosecutors also are seeking two-year probation terms for the men — including Bomgardner, 21, whom the jury found played a lesser role in the hazing of Williams — and want them to spend 50 hours doing community service that helps the black community as well as complete a class on racial or ethnic sensitivity.

Pastor Jethroe Moore II, president of the local NAACP chapter, said he welcomed that sort of education for the young men and respected the district attorney’s decision not to pursue a second trial.

“Of course I would have liked to have the hate crimes stick,” he said. “But I understand the cost and time of another trial. But without that, I think a little jail might do these young men some good.”

In a scathing sentencing memorandum filed Monday, prosecutors call for the aggravated sentence because the battery was committed with a bike lock that could be considered a weapon. They also pointed to the numerous racial aspects of the case that “not only aggravate the emotional injury to the victim but also injure the larger community” at the university and in the Bay Area.

Prosecutors said in the legal filing that the defendants have not taken responsibility for their actions, accusing them of lying under oath and blowing off the bike-lock incident as “tickling” or “wrestling.” They attributed the defendants’ lack of criminal histories to their youth, arguing the men “had not yet had time to accrue an adult criminal history.”

Witnesses testified that the men referred to Williams as “Three-fifths” or “Fraction” — nicknames related to America’s history of slavery. Beaschler hung a Confederate flag in the dorm and scrawled a form of the “n” word on a communal whiteboard. He said the flag was his expression for the support of state rights. He categorized an Adolf Hitler portrait he hung in the common room as political satire.

Defense attorneys argued that their clients took a series of pranks too far because they were “immature, insensitive and stupid.”

Though District Attorney Jeff Rosen disagreed, he ultimately decided not to pursue a second trial. A news release cited the jury’s decision and “an unlikely chance of conviction.”

Rosen said in a statement that his office continues to support Williams.

“We hope that the judge will consider all of the evidence in this case,” the statement said, “and send a forceful message to the defendants, to this young and resilient victim, and to the rest of Santa Clara County: Prejudice is not a prank.”

The hazing, which occurred during the fall 2013 semester, led to an internal investigation and an apology from the president of the university, where only 3 percent of the student body is black.

San Jose State officials were reviewing the announcement on Monday and did not have an immediate response.

The victim’s family is suing the university and the convicted men for $5 million in a civil case.

Eric Kurhi can be reached at 408-920-5852. Follow him at Twitter.com/erickurhi.