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WEBVTT HATE CRIME CHARGE BEING FILED? REPORTER: THAT'S RIGHT. THE VICTIM IN THIS CASE IS STILL UNDERGOING SURGERIES TO DEAL WITH INJURIES TO HIS EYE, AS A RESULT OF ATTACK. THE ATTACK -- TAKE A LOOK AT THIS FILE VIDEO. KEVIN LOCKET IS WHO YOU SEE UNDER ATTACK. WAO WE TOLD HIM RYAN KYLE THE MAN SERVING TIME FOR THE ATTACK IS FACING A FEDERAL HATE CRIME CHARGE HE QUESTIONED WHY OTHER MEN WHO WERE WITH KYLE WEREN'T NOW FEDERALLY CHARGED TOO LOCKET HAS LONG BEEN UNHAPPY THAT OTHER MAN WITH KYLE DURING THE ATTACK DID NOT SERVE TIME. A PLEA BY KYLE IN THE FEDERAL SYSTEM IS APPARENTLY IN THE WORKS. EVEN SO THE MAXIMUM HE COULD GET IS TEN YEARS IN A FEDERAL PRISON AND A QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS IN FINES. LOCKET THE VICTIM HAS UNDERGONE NUMEROUS SURGERIES BECAUSE OF HIS INJURIES AND THE FEDERAL

Advertisement T station attacker faces Western Pa.'s first-ever federal hate charge Ryan Kyle, 22, charged for beating man at Wood Street station; victim, Kevin Lockett, speaks with Pittsburgh's Action News 4 about new hate crime charge

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A white man serving a three- to six-year state court sentence for beating a black man at a Port Authority T subway station during a drunken incident following a Kenny Chesney concert has agreed to plead guilty to a federal hate crime charge for the nonfatal assault, federal prosecutors and his attorney said Monday. The charge against Ryan Kyle, 22, formerly of Baldwin Borough, is filed under the 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which makes it illegal to cause physical harm because of expressed racial animus. "The anticipated plea in this case ensures that Ryan Kyle is held fully accountable for a federal hate crime that carries a significant sentence, highlights the radial motivation for the offense, and demonstrates the federal government's commitment to prosecuting racially motivated crimes," U.S. Attorney David Hickton said. The charge was announced on Hickton's final day as U.S. attorney. When informed of the federal announcement, the victim, Kevin Lockett, told Pittsburgh's Action News 4 he is unhappy that other men who were with Kyle are apparently not facing federal charges as well. "Why aren't the other ones charged? They have conspiracy. All of of them should be charged with conspiracy. That's how I feel about it. It shouldn't only be just him, said Lockett. "Still don't feel no justice, because if it was five black guys, everybody would get the same charge. Conspiracy is the same for all them. So, I don't understand it. It's no justice for real." Lockett said he is still under medical care for his injuries and has undergone numerous surgeries. He spoke with Pittsburgh's Action News 4 as he was leaving a doctor's appointment at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital on Monday. "I just had surgery last week, again. Another one. I have another one to go through. And it's just weird how they're still discovering things, like a detatched retina," Lockett said. "I'm trying not to be a blind man. About to go lose my eyesight all together. It's bad.:" The federal hate crime case may give Lockett an opportunity of restitution for his ongoing medical bills. Kyle's attorney, Almon Burke, a former federal prosecutor, confirmed Ryan has agreed to plead guilty to the charge, which can carry up to 10 years in prison. But Burke said he and federal prosecutors are recommending a three-year sentence that will run concurrently with Ryan's state sentence -- meaning Ryan won't serve any additional prison time if a judge approves the plea deal. No court dates were scheduled in the case. Kyle pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and robbery and was sentenced to prison by an Allegheny County judge in April after prosecutors dropped an attempted homicide charge. Video: Watch surveillance footage of the T station beating Lockett, then 53, told police he had been carrying a blue cooler when he got on the trolley near PNC Park late on May 30, 2015 and heard racial slurs. Lockett said he wanted to get off the train sooner, but his exit was blocked by a crowd that was leaving the concert at Heinz Field. Once he got off the train, Lockett said, Kyle and four friends confronted him. Security camera video showed he was thrown onto the tracks, but managed to get back onto the train platform, Pittsburgh police said in a criminal complaint. After he was beaten, Lockett said, his cooler, which contained beer and food, was stolen. The four men charged along with Kyle were convicted of lesser charges and sentenced to probation. Kyle faced more severe charges -- and the federal hate crime charge -- because surveillance video clearly showed him punching Lockett repeatedly, Burke said. The others stood around but whether they used slurs couldn't be proven because the video doesn't include sound. "You can see what they're doing, but you can't tell if they're adding their voices to discourage or encourage" the attack on Lockett, said Burke, who called the incident more a case of "drunken idiocy" than a hate crime. "I understand there was some very harsh language used from my client about the victim," Burke said, but "it seemed like there was as much mouthing off from the victim to my client as there was from my client to the victim before the punches were thrown." "It's really a couple of drunken guys, but one happens to be black and one happens to be white," Burke said. The attack was captured on security camera video at the Wood Street station. It shows Kyle throwing the victim onto the subway tracks and punching him up to nine times after the victim managed to flee the subway tracks. Prosecutors said Kyle used racial slurs during and after the attack. Assistant District Attorney Julie Capone said in February that if the case had gone to trial, witnesses would have testified that the group of five men had harassed the victim while he was riding on the T and then followed the victim when he got off at Wood Street. Capone told the court that one witness would have testified to hearing someone in the group say they intended to beat up Lockett. Under plea deals, others in the group of men, who did not touch the victim as Kyle did, got probation and no time behind bars. They are Matthew LaPlace, 23, Ken Gault, 22, David Depretis, 21, and Christopher LaPlace, 23. All four were also sentenced to 100 hours of community service in a minority community or in a form that would benefit a minority community. Attorneys for the other men disputed any role in the assault by their clients when the lawyers spoke with Pittsburgh's Action News 4 in February. Patrick Thomassey, an attorney for defendant Matthew LaPlace, said at the time, "One of these young men was out of control. The other, for lack of a better word, was just sort of there. Everybody was so intoxicated, none of them have much recollection of what occurred." Robert DelGreco, attorney for defendant Ken Gault, said in February, "In each of the offensive acts, my client's back was turned, walking away from the fray, toward the exit."