A Long Island jury found Jeffrey Conroy, 19, guilty of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime for the 2008 stabbing of Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero. Conroy and his friend were allegedly "beaner hopping" and had been on a weeklong hate crime spree. While he was found not guilty of murder as a hate crime, Conroy, who claimed one of his friends actually killed Lucero, was found guilty of first-degree gang assault. According to Newsday (subscription required), he faces a "maximum of 25 years and a minimum of 8 years." Six of Conroy's co-defendants are still awaiting trial; four of them who testified against him pleaded guilty to gang assault while the other two pleaded not guilty.
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