Four men were convicted Thursday of the most serious counts taken to trial regarding the beating of a man outside a Lancaster city bar on Christmas morning in 2015.
Anthony Maglietta, 45, then owner of Molly’s Pub on East Chestnut Street, and three former employees were tried this week in county court on numerous counts.
The other defendants were: Joshua R. Ellis, 33; Alexander Rodriguez-Cruz, 27; and Raymond J. Lee, 40.
All four Lancaster men were convicted Thursday afternoon of aggravated assault and conspiracy to aggravated assault.
They will be sentenced after background checks, expected in a couple months.
Maglietta also was convicted of tampering with evidence for attempting to conceal contents of the bar’s surveillance recordings of the beating. The jurors watched the video recording.
The jury deliberated about 8 hours over two days before deciding the case Thursday just after noon.
At the verdicts, First Assistant District Attorney Christopher P. Larsen asked presiding Lancaster County Judge Merrill Spahn to increase bail to $750,000 for all defendants. The judge ordered that and all four were taken out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
“I commend the city police, in particular Sergeant Michael Gerace, for a thorough investigation of this vicious assault,” Larsen said after the verdict. “It was evident the jury was very attentive throughout and took their role seriously.
“I am hopeful this provides some comfort to the victim and helps him with his recovery.”
The men were convicted of beating of a 30-year-old man who was punched and kicked until he was unconscious. The beating continued for several minutes.
The victim testified at trial.
Sgt. Gerace filed charges.
Prior to the trial, a fifth co-defendant, 29-year-old Francisco Camacho, pleaded guilty to robbery. He will be sentenced at an upcoming hearing.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright