Former Pennsylvania healthcare worker sentenced for hate crimes targeting disabled residents

( WJET/WFXP ) — A Pennsylvania federal judge has sentenced another former healthcare worker to a decade in prison after he and another worker were convicted of hate crimes where they targeted disabled residents of an assisted living facility.

Tyler Smith, 34, of New Brighton, Pennsylvania and Zachary Dinell, 29, pleaded guilty to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act by repeatedly assaulting 13 residents of a New Brighton in-patient healthcare facility between June 2016 and September 2017.

Smith was sentenced to 120 months in prison with three years of supervised release on April 19 while his accomplice, Dinell, was sentenced to 17 years in prison with three years of supervised release in January 2023.

United States Attorney Eric Olshan said in a release the two men targeted these residents who were unable to speak or live independently by punching and kicking them, rubbing hand sanitizer and mouthwash in their eyes and capturing a video of Smith jumping on a 13-year-old resident who was lying in bed. Dinell then sent the video of the incident to Smith at his request.

“Today’s sentencing holds Tyler Smith accountable for the abhorrent and degrading assaults he and Zachary Dinell carried out against more than a dozen victims—simply because they were disabled,” U.S. Attorney Olshan said. “Hate crimes target and terrorize not just individuals but whole communities. Our hope is that today’s result brings some measure of closure to the victims’ families who have shouldered the crushing burden of Smith’s and Dinell’s conduct for so many years.

Smith admitted to exchanging text messages with Dinell where they shared their animosity towards the residents, shared stories of their assaults and shared photos and videos of residents in addition to encouraging each other to abuse patients.

He also admitted that the two were able to avoid being caught by specifically targeting residents who were nonverbal and exploiting one-on-one sessions.

Smith initially pleaded guilty to hate crimes back in December while Dinell pleaded guilty in October 2022 before being sentenced in January 2023.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.