A Beaver County man has pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes which include kicking, punching and rubbing irritants into the eyes of severely disabled residents.
32-year-old Tyler Smith of New Brighton pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of violating the Federal Hate Crime Prevention Act.
For a period of almost a year and half Smith and co-defendant Zachary Dinell physically and emotionally abused residents of in-patient health care facility in New Brighton.
These patients suffered from severe physical, intellectual and emotional disabilities that required assistance in all aspects of daily life.
As part of the plea agreement, Smith has agreed to a prison sentence from 5 to 10 years and Dinell was previously sentenced to 17 years in jail with 3 years supervised release.