Posted on 12/15/2009 7:49:08 PM PST by Born Conservative
The Shenandoah police chief and two officers under his command are charged with orchestrating a cover-up in the fatal beating of a Mexican immigrant by altering evidence or lying to the FBI in a hate crimes case against two popular football players.
The former Shenandoah High School athletes, 19-year-old Derrick Donchak and 18-year-old Brandon Piekarsky, have now been charged with a federal hate crime, accused of beating Luis Ramirez in a park on a night in July 2008 as they headed home from a party, the Justice Department said Tuesday in Washington.
State prosecutors who tried unsuccessfully to win ethnic intimidation or murder convictions against the athletes had alleged that the attackers yelled racial epithets at Mr. Ramirez and that one gripped a piece of metal to give his punches more power.
One of the indictments accuses Police Chief Matthew Nestor, Lt. William Moyer and Officer Jason Hayes of conspiracy and falsifying documents "with the intent to impede, obstruct, and influence the investigation." Lt. Moyer is further accused of witness tampering, destroying evidence and lying to the FBI.
Each officer faces up to 20 years in prison on obstruction charges and five years for conspiring to obstruct justice. Lt. Moyer also faces five additional years for making false statements to the FBI.
During the previous trial, prosecutors alleged Lt. Moyer and Officer Hayes helped Mr. Piekarsky, Mr. Donchak and other teens involved concoct a story and cover up what really happened the night Mr. Ramirez was beaten. Officer Hayes allegedly told the teens to get their story straight and gave them car rides from the scene of the crime, according to testimony during the trial.
Schuylkill County District Attorney James P. Goodman previously told The Republican-Herald, in Pottsville, the actions of Shenandoah police after the beating made proving the case more difficult.
"The (Shenandoah) police did not properly investigate this case ... There were a lot of problems with the evidence," Mr. Goodman said in an October interview.
The police chief and his second-in-command, Capt. Jamie Gennarini, were charged with extortion and civil rights violations in a separate case. The two are accused of extorting cash payoffs from illegal gambling operations and demanding a $2,000 payment from an unidentified local businessman in 2007 to release him from their custody.
The extortion charges carry 20 years of prison time, according to the Department of Justice.
The federal indictment of the teens brought praise from those who had long argued that the case was blatantly a hate crime and were outraged when the suspects won acquittals on the most serious charges.
"This is what our family, friends, and ongoing supporters have prayed for," said Crystal Dillman, who had two children with Mr. Ramirez, in a statement released by the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund. "I truly believe in my heart that Luis can now rest a bit more peacefully knowing that these criminals and accomplices are being charged."
The indictments accuse Mr. Donchak and Mr. Piekarsky of a hate crime. Mr. Donchak is also accused of conspiring with police to cover up the crime and giving false statements to police.
Both were acquitted of aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and other charges in connection with Mr. Ramirez's death after a five-day trial that ended May 1. Mr. Piekarsky was also cleared of third-degree murder charges.
Each of the police officers pleaded not guilty and a federal judge ordered them jailed until a Wednesday afternoon bail hearing.
The men were led into U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion's Wilkes-Barre courtroom by federal agents around 2 p.m. They were handcuffed and still in the civilian clothes they were wearing when they were arrested Tuesday morning. The men were uncuffed and allowed to speak with their attorneys before proceedings began. They also chatted with family members who sat behind them.
Detention hearings will begin at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday in federal court in Scranton, before U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo, Judge Mannion said.
A trial for the indictment involving Chief Nestor, Officer Hayes and Lt. Moyer was set for Feb. 16 at 9:30 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Scranton. Trial for the indictment involving just Chief Nestor and Capt. Gennarini was set for Feb. 22.
Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky, the two defendants indicted for a federal hate crime for the fatal beating, were not arraigned Tuesday. Prosecutors said because they were already jailed, there was no hurry to bring them to court. They will be in court for arraignment within a week, prosecutors said.
Reaction among residents of the racially tense borough to the indictment was mixed.
"Why come in and stir it up again? Why stir it up?" said George Dambroski, 61. "The town is stirred-up enough."
Shawn Grady, 35, agreed with the new charges.
"The feds did what they should have done. No one deserves to die. At least, not like that. Justice should be done," he said.
Mr. Donchak, Mr. Piekarsky and a third teen were previously charged in state court in Mr. Ramirez's death and cleared of all serious charges. State charges were dropped against a fourth suspect in exchange for a guilty plea to a federal civil rights count.
Mr. Piekarsky was acquitted by an all-white jury of third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation; Mr. Donchak was acquitted of aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation. Both were convicted of simple assault, which carry possible one- or two-year prison sentences.
Mr. Piekarsky was sentenced in June to six to 23 months in prison, and Mr. Donchak was sentenced to seven to 23 months. Both are serving their sentences at the Schuylkill County jail.
The May verdicts were decried by Hispanic advocates who say Mr. Ramirez's death was part of a rising tide of hate crimes against Latinos.
The confrontation began when a half-dozen high school football players were headed home from a block party in Shenandoah, once a nearly all-white town that has attracted Hispanic immigrants with jobs in factories and farm fields. They came across Mr. Ramirez, 25, and his 15-year-old girlfriend in a park.
An argument broke out, and the football players hurled ethnic slurs, although lawyers disputed who said exactly what. Defense attorneys called Mr. Ramirez the aggressor.
Soon Mr. Ramirez and Mr. Piekarsky were trading punches. Mr. Donchak jumped in - his lawyers said to break up the fight - and wound up on top of Mr. Ramirez. Prosecutors said he pummeled Mr. Ramirez while gripping a small piece of metal to give his punches more power; defense attorneys denied he had a weapon.
The fight wound down, but the argument continued. Mr. Ramirez charged the group. He was knocked out by a punch to the face. Prosecutors said he was killed by Mr. Piekarsky's kick to the head; defense lawyers said another teen delivered the fatal blow.
Mr. Ramirez, a native of the small central Mexican town of Iramuco, was in the United States illegally working at various jobs.
This occurred in Schuylkill County, PA
Coal Country ping.
ping
It's just a small detail in all of this, but I just want to make sure we don't forget to lower the age of consent in Pennsylvania to accomodate foreign cultures.
It’s always a good bet that when state charges don’t net a conviction, they’ll go for federal charges of “hate crime”, “civil rights violations”, etc. Which isn’t unconstitutional double jeopardy, oh no.
ping
I guess it's love when you stab somebody multiple times in the chest after knocking him to the ground.
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