NEW YORK (AP) -- A landlord was found guilty of hiring hit men to force two brothers out of a rent-controlled apartment last year.
Juan Basagoitia, 50, was accused of paying two tenants in the building $2,500 to beat the brothers and attack them with a knife in March.
He allegedly wanted to oust the victims from their three-bedroom, $400-a-month apartment in the Elmhurst section of New York's Queens borough so he could raise the rent to $1,500.
The brothers, William and David Lavery, suffered disfiguring injuries in the attack but survived.
Basagoitia was found guilty Tuesday of first-degree attempted murder and assault, conspiracy and burglary after a two-week trial. He could face up to life in prison when sentenced in January.
Basagoitia's lawyer, Stewart Orden, said his client hired the attackers to scare the brothers, not to hurt them, and that the plan spiraled out of control.
The two attackers, David Robles and Danny Machuca, were convicted in separate trials earlier this year.
Juan Basagoitia, 50, was accused of paying two tenants in the building $2,500 to beat the brothers and attack them with a knife in March.
He allegedly wanted to oust the victims from their three-bedroom, $400-a-month apartment in the Elmhurst section of New York's Queens borough so he could raise the rent to $1,500.
The brothers, William and David Lavery, suffered disfiguring injuries in the attack but survived.
Basagoitia was found guilty Tuesday of first-degree attempted murder and assault, conspiracy and burglary after a two-week trial. He could face up to life in prison when sentenced in January.
Basagoitia's lawyer, Stewart Orden, said his client hired the attackers to scare the brothers, not to hurt them, and that the plan spiraled out of control.
The two attackers, David Robles and Danny Machuca, were convicted in separate trials earlier this year.
