Man Guilty in Racial Beatings

An alleged white supremacist was convicted Wednesday of trying to kill two Mexican laborers in an attack that inflamed racial tensions in several Long Island communities.

Ryan Wagner, 20, was found guilty of two counts each of attempted murder and assault. He faces up to 50 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 9.

“Ryan, I love you!” his sobbing mother, Arlene, shouted as her son was led from the courtroom.

Several jurors cried as the verdict was read.

“I’m just sort of speechless,” defense attorney Thomas Liotti said.

Another defendant, Christopher Slavin, 29, was convicted of the same charges three months ago and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

The beatings exacerbated tensions over the laborers, who assemble on street corners and wait for contractors and landscapers to hire them for the day. Critics say the workers are mostly illegal immigrants.

Prosecutor Eileen Powers said Wagner and Slavin lured their victims, Israel Perez and Magdaleno Estrada Escamilla, to an abandoned basement on Sept. 17, 2000, with a promise of work. She said the two then beat the men with shovels, a post-hole digger and a knife.

Perez and Estrada testified against Wagner and identified him as their attacker. The victims, who have since returned to Mexico, have also filed a $66-million federal civil rights lawsuit against Wagner, Slavin and others.

“Obviously, we’re very pleased that the jury believed Israel and Magdeleno’s testimony,” Powers said.

Wagner admitted driving from New York to Long Island to vent his rage, meeting up with Slavin before the pair approached the two Mexicans and offering the laborers a day job cleaning out the basement.

He said his intent was only to “beat up” the laborers and claimed not to know that Slavin was planning to bash the workers with shovels.

Wagner said his anger raged out of control because of his drug and alcohol consumption. He was placed in protective custody pending his sentencing.

He also claimed that Perez had actually attacked him in the basement before he pulled a knife in self-defense.

However, Wagner was not injured in the melee while Perez suffered seven knife wounds and nearly bled to death from a deep slash to his wrist. He was forced to flag down a car on the Long Island Expressway to get treatment.