A Newark woman smiled as she left court Friday after being sentenced to five years in prison for being the ringleader in a bias attack on a transgender woman in Jersey City last year in an incident that ended in robbery.

"We are all just getting up every day and trying to live our lives. I don't know why just because someone is different you have to give him a hard time," Hudson County Superior Court Judge Joseph Isabella told Brieauna Gibson, 23, before sentencing her. "It's not right. it's not nice. It's not a good thing to be"

The judge said the 23-year-old Jersey City victim "was just sitting in a car minding her own business and just because she was who she was, she was attacked."

At the sentencing, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Leo Rinaldi said of Gibson that "She initiated the entire incident. She approached the victim, engaged the victim in the incident which culminated in a robbery based on her appearance and sexuality."

The incident occurred on Journal Square on March 10, 2015, Rinaldi said, adding that the victim suffered bruises, swelling and other minor injuries and was treated at the scene.

Isabella noted that Gibson had six contacts with the criminal justice system as a juvenile and eight as an adult. She was charged with robbery twice but in both cases she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of theft. The judge said Gibson suffers from drug and mental problems. The victim did not attend the sentencing.

Gibson was originally charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, aggravated assault and bias intimidation in the first degree. She could have faced 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted. She pleaded guilty to bias intimidation in the second degree and faced five to 10 years. The state asked for a seven-year sentence. Isabella sentenced her to five.

Also charged in the incident was Quaziya Armstrong, 20, of Newark, who pleaded guilty to robber and awaits sentencing; Kejarris Griffin, 21, of Newark, pleaded guilty to fourth degree bias intimidation and awaits sentencing, and Altyree Moon, 23, of Newark, pleaded guilty to fourth degree bias intimidation and was sentenced to two years probation. The charges against Rasanda Clemmons, 25, are still pending, Rinaldi said.

Gibson apologized for the incident at the hearing in the Hudson County Administration Building Friday morning. She also faces charges in Essex County.