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Read the press release here.

L Train Attacker to be Released from Jail Monday

By Meredith Hoffman | April 12, 2012 3:54pm
Ryan Beauchamp pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor Thursday, after instigating a fight that led Joshua Basin to die on the Bedford L train tracks.
Ryan Beauchamp pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor Thursday, after instigating a fight that led Joshua Basin to die on the Bedford L train tracks.
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NYPD

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN—The instigator of a tussle that ended in a young man's death on the Bedford Avenue L train tracks last month will be released from jail Monday, officials said.

Ryan Beauchamp pled guilty Thursday to attempted assault for picking a fight with La Guardia College student Joshua Basin. Both men fell into the Bedford Avenue track amidst the brawl, and Basin was then fatally struck by a train.

In exchange for Beauchamp's plea, Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Evelyn LaPorte offered Beauchamp a 30-day sentence.

Beauchamp has been held on $7,000 bail since his arrest on March 28.

He will be eligible for release on Monday, his lawyer, George Cooke, told DNAinfo.

"There were conflicting accounts by witnesses," said Beauchamp's lawyer George Cooke of the incident. "Some said it was an assault, and others said it was just harassment. I think it's better off for everyone that we avoided trial."

The Brooklyn DA's office objected to Judge Evelyn Laporte's 30-day sentence and asked for the maximum sentence of 90 days, a spokesman fro Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes said.

Cooke stressed that although Beauchamp started the fight, Basin made the jump that sparked the men's tumble off the platform.

Beauchamp, 33, "poked Basin in the chest" on a Friday night as they rode a Brooklyn-bound L train, according to the criminal complaint. He then allegedly grabbed the young man by the back of the shirt and dragged him onto the platform once the train arrived at Bedford Avenue.

But Cooke stressed to Judge Evelyn Laporte that both the criminal complaint and a recent article by a witness of the incident suggested Basin had actively engaged in the fight.

The eye-witness account in the Local East Village said that at one point Beauchamp ran away from the fight, at which point "Basin chased after him" and "tore into him – kicking him, punching him, just wailing on Ryan Beauchamp, who had curled into a ball to shield himself."

Then, the witness continued, "Ryan was somehow able to free himself, and it turned into a wrestling match, and then suddenly, inexplicably, Ryan Beauchamp’s feet were in the air and he was looking over at me, eyes wide. The two men tumbled onto the tracks together."

Cooke also noted that Beauchamp, who is homeless, had no prior criminal record, which helped his case.

"He feels terrible about what happened," said Cooke of Beauchamp.

Cooke said he was not sure where his client would go once released from Riker's Monday.

"I'm not sure what his plan is," said Cooke.

Basin's mother could not be reached immediately for comment.