A firebomb-tossing teenage bigot who burned down a Mexican immigrant family’s Farmingville home was slapped yesterday with a prison term of up to four years.
Scott Soucek, 16, admitted he “deserved” the 1 1/3- to four-year sentence in adult prison for his role in the attack last July 5 that left 34-year- old Sergio Perez, his wife, Maria Garcia, and their two young children homeless.
“My family knows that someone tried to kill our children and us simply because we’re Mexicans,” a teary-eyed Garcia, 24, said through a translator at the hearing in Riverhead, L.I., court.
“We lost our savings. We lost our furniture. We lost our children’s toys. We lost absolutely everything. We left that night with nothing except the clothes on our backs.”
Soucek pleaded guilty to hate-crime charges of first-degree reckless endangerment for allegedly sneaking up to the family’s home and tossing what cops called a “night rocket” firework through a window.
The lighted rocket quickly turned into a dangerous incendiary bomb that consumed the family’s home in minutes. The four family members escaped without physical injury.
“They’ve been scarred for life,” said the Rev. Allan Byron Ramirez, a local minister who has served as the family’s spokesman.
Before he was sentenced, Soucek tuned to Garcia and Perez and said, “I just would like to apologize for everything I’ve done to the family. I deserve everything I get.”
Judge James Hudson chided the teen.
“If only that night, that same spark of humility that gave you remorse was present,” said the jurist. “Mr. Perez might not speak English like you do. But I ask you: Who is the real American?”
Three other teens involved in the firebombing, including the getaway driver and two passengers in the car, are also set to be sentenced after pleading guilty on various charges. A fifth teen’s case is in Juvenile Court.