Wrong side of the law: Inside the alleged police cover-up (beating death of illegal immigrant)

The Times-Tribune (Scranton PA) ^ | 12/17/09 | Joe McDonald

[Born Conservative]

Minutes after the last kick and punch were thrown in a fatal beating in a public park in Shenandoah on a summer night in 2008, the cover-up began, federal prosecutors say.

Instead of investigating the vicious beating of Luis Ramirez, police officers of the small borough helped the young men conceal evidence and concoct a less-damaging version of what happened that night, advising the young football players that they "needed to get their stories straight" because the man they had just beaten might die, according to an indictment.

The Mexican immigrant's last conscious moments were spent hearing "Go back to Mexico" and "Tell your Mexican friends to get the (expletive) out of Shenandoah." Mr. Ramirez died two days later.

What the officers and their police chief allegedly did that night and in the following weeks and months emerged in a closer reading of the indictments unsealed Tuesday. In the court papers, prosecutors lay out alleged plots that sound like a script for a bad cop movie, ranging from cover-ups to extortion schemes, to shakedowns of bookies, all set in an insular town where everyone knows just about everyone and strangers are not welcome.

The story also has a love-interest angle.

One of the officers, Jason Hayes, was the boyfriend of the mother of Brandon Piekarsky, one of the young men who was involved in the beating. Another officer, Police Chief Matthew Nestor, was friends with the same woman. He had vacationed with her. A third officer, Lt. William Moyer, also had a personal relationship with one of the men who beat Mr. Ramirez. Lt. Moyer's son played football with the players involved in the beating.

If the three officers are convicted, their story could end with them going to federal prison for 20 years.

The story began as Officer Hayes and Lt. Moyer arrived on the scene and detained one of the people who called 911, who identified the young men who beat Mr. Ramirez, according to the indictment. The officers stopped the men, then let them go, prosecutors said.

There was a moment early on when the alleged plot could have been defused, according to the indictment, when an unnamed borough official told Chief Nestor that the investigation should not be conducted by the borough police "because of the identities of the suspects" involved in the beating. But Chief Nestor told the official his department would continue to handle the case, the indictment states.

The officers did interview an eyewitness to the beating, the indictment states, but the officers "deliberately mischaracterized" the witness' account in their official reports to exculpate Brandon Piekarsky in the beating.

In reviewing Lt. Moyer's investigation, the grand jury said his official report included "false and misleading" information.

The manufactured story began to take shape shortly after the attack when the young men gathered at the home of Derrick Donchak, one of the men involved in the beating, the indictment states. At the house, they were advised through Officer Hayes' girlfriend that they needed to "get their stories straight" because Officer Hayes had warned that Mr. Ramirez's condition was deteriorating, "which could result in a homicide investigation."

In the following weeks, Lt. Moyer called one of the parents of the men involved in the beating, advising them to "dispose of the sneakers he wore during the assault" on Mr. Ramirez, the indictment states.

Mr. Piekarsky, Mr. Donchak and Colin Walsh were later charged in connection with the beating. The charges against Mr. Walsh were later dropped and Mr. Piekarsky and Mr. Donchak were found guilty of simple assault. The verdicts enraged leaders of the Hispanic community and prompted Gov. Ed Rendell to ask the U.S. Justice Department to pursue civil rights charges. Mr. Piekarsky, 18, and Mr. Donchak, 19, were each charged with a federal hate crime.

Chief Nestor, Officer Hayes and Lt. Moyer were charged with conspiracy and falsifying documents. Lt. Moyer is also charged with witness tampering, destroying evidence and lying to the FBI.

[bcsco]

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[pnh102]

And meanwhile, illegals who target legal US citizens and residents remain unprosecuted. Where are the "hate crimes" prosecutions against those perps?

And I've really come to stop feeling sorry for illegals who are on the receiving end of this sort of thing. If they were not here illegally, they would not be subject to such risks.

[Scotsman will be Free]

If this story is true, the local cops need to be executed. If this story is federal BS the feds need to be executed.

[saganite]

You can advocate restrictions on immigration (which I agree with) but when you issue an apologia for murder you’ve crossed the line. You need to look in the mirror and ask yourself if you really mean what you say.

[pnh102]

You can advocate restrictions on immigration (which I agree with) but when you issue an apologia for murder you’ve crossed the line.

Shrug. Maybe some good can come of it... if this story makes news in other countries it might make just one more potential illegal think twice about violating our sovereignty.

[Into the Vortex]

I agree. If they invaded my home they would be shot-why is our country as a whole not in the same category? There seem to be a lot of otherwise sensible people who believe we should just let this destructive invasion continue. They're criminals from the second they step onto U.S. soil.

[saganite]

OK. I’ve got a pretty clear fix on what you are now.

[pnh102]

I’ve got a pretty clear fix on what you are now.

What can I say? We played nice and all we got for our troubles was a once-great country that is infested with illegals who do nothing but drain our resources and cause trouble for everybody.

Maybe the officers involved are guilty of murder, but how many times do we see illegals attack and murder our own people every day and they seem to get away with it? How many illegals are charged with "hate crimes?"

[bitterohiogunclinger]

“if this story makes news in other countries it might make just one more potential illegal think twice about violating our sovereignty.”
Sorry, but no.
When 4 people gang up and beat to death a man because of his skin color, national origin or even immigration status, and you justify it for what ever reason, it doesn't lead anyone to respect our laws. People who gang up on someone and commit violence are cowards.
We've seen plenty of examples throughout history, the KKK, Nazi's, gangs of thugs from every race, creed and nationality, and none of it is excusable.

[raybbr]

You can advocate restrictions on immigration (which I agree with) but when you issue an apologia for murder you’ve crossed the line. You need to look in the mirror and ask yourself if you really mean what you say.

There is no information in the story except for some salacious bits about the tangled relationships.

Two of the men were convicted and a third found not guilty.

How do you know it was murder?

[saganite]

What were the men convicted of?

[MBB1984]

It is probably all federal propaganda spewed and sponsored by the Obama administration. They want to send a two fold message to those against illegal immigration. First, they want to brand opponents as killers and murderers and at a minimum, extremists. Second, and much more troublesome, they want to send a message that those against illegal immigration may be prosecuted viciously.

[magslinger]

Unless you have inside information that you are not sharing with the rest of us, you are getting everything you know from the MSM who is getting what they know from the former employer of Lon Horiuchi. I wouldn't rely on that information.

I don't know any more about the case than you do. I doubt that it happened exactly as the FBI say it did. They are probably under a great deal of pressure to get hate crime convictions. If their accusations are anything like accurate, convictions need to be made here, but I am suspending judgment unless/until I know more.

I have no sympathy for the victim. He was where he had no business being. Illegal immigration should not be a capitol offense, but if he hadn't come to this country, he would be alive and safe in his home country.

Assuming he wasn't murdered by the police or drug cartels there.

[I Buried My Guns]

"...They are probably under a great deal of pressure to get hate crime convictions...."

Well then, that amounts to a quota system with the stated goal of putting as many white people as possible in prison.

Hate crime laws specifically target white folks. That is the true crime and when our country goes through it's inevitable social upheaval/civil war, I hope the people responsible for that nonsense have the balls to meet me on the field of battle, and die with honor.

I'd hate to have to go to their house!

[Bluebeard16]

“We’ve seen plenty of examples throughout history, the KKK, Nazi’s, gangs of thugs from every race, creed and nationality, and none of it is excusable.”

Like the “gang of thugs”, that is SEIU, that beat the black man in MO? Or perhaps MS13?

[magslinger]

I don’t know for a fact that there is any such pressure. I do know that the man most able to bring such pressure is very quick to say we should not jump to conclusions. He is equally quick to jump to conclusions himself if the person involved is white. Do with that what you will.

[babygene]

“Maybe the officers involved are guilty of murder”

Who did the officers murder?

[raybbr]

It's right there above....

The charges against Mr. Walsh were later dropped and Mr. Piekarsky and Mr. Donchak were found guilty of simple assault.

[saganite]

Yeah, I went back and read the article all the way through and saw it there at the end. Two guys convicted of assault, in which the victim died. I can draw my own conclusions.