White Supremacists Face More Than 20 Years In Hemet Beating

MURRIETA (CBS) — Two white supremacists convicted of beating a man nearly to death are each facing more than 20 years in prison.

KNX 1070's Kim Marriner Reports

Steven Eugene Lemeur, 25, and Timothy Aaron True, 22, were convicted Friday of attempted murder, burglary and criminal street gang activity counts. The suspects also were charged for great bodily injury and weapons allegations in the attack on Cory Smith.

Prosecutors said Smith knew the defendants, who were trying to recruit him into joining their gang, the Comrades of Our Race's Struggle -- or COORS -- Skins, a white supremacist group with roots in the San Jacinto Valley.

The victim was at a friend's apartment in the 200 block of South Yale Street in Hemet when the defendants barged in and began beating him, according to Hemet police Cpl. Takashi Nishida.

The men reportedly grabbed a knife and a baseball bat from the living room, repeatedly clubbing and slashing Smith with the weapons.

Smith underwent surgery at Riverside County Regional Medical Center, where he lingered in a coma for more than two weeks, according to Nishida.

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 7.

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