Cops charged with cover-up

MICHAEL RUBINKAM and KATHY MATHESON Associated Press Writers

SHENANDOAH — Federal prosecutors charged three police officers in a racially tense Pennsylvania coal town with orchestrating a cover-up in the fatal beating of a Mexican immigrant by altering evidence or lying to the FBI in a case against two white high school football players.

A van carrying Shenandoah police officers leaves the federal courthouse in Wilkes-Barre after their arraignment Tuesday afternoon.

S. John Wilkin/The Times Leader

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A federal indictment announced Tuesday in Washington revealed close ties between the officers and defendants: One dated the mother of an accused player, and another had a son on the team.

The former athletes themselves, ages 18 and 19, are now charged with a federal hate crime in the beating death of Luis Ramirez in a park on a night in July 2008 as they headed home from a party.

State prosecutors who tried to win murder or ethnic intimidation convictions against the athletes had alleged that the attackers yelled racial epithets at Ramirez and that one gripped a piece of metal to give his punches more power.

The federal indictment 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 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 19-year-old Derrick Donchak and 18-year-old Brandon Piekarsky of a hate crime. Donchak is also accused of conspiring with police to cover up the crime and giving false statements to police.

The indictments also charged 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.” Moyer is further accused of witness tampering, destroying evidence and lying to the FBI.

The police chief and his second-in-command, 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 a local businessman in 2007 to release him from their custody.

The officers all pleaded not guilty before a federal magistrate in Wilkes-Barre and will be held until a bail hearing Wednesday. Donchak and Piekarsky have an initial court appearance scheduled for Dec. 22.

No one answered the phone at the Shenandoah Borough Police Department on Tuesday, and the door was locked. Piekarsky’s lawyer didn’t return a call, and there was no lawyer listed for Donchak on the indictment.

Hayes dated Piekarsky’s mother, and Moyer’s son played on the football team, according to the indictment, which alleges that the officers took actions on behalf of the teens, especially Piekarsky.

Nestor, Hayes and Moyer failed to record incriminating statements made by Piekarsky and wrote “false and misleading official reports ... that intentionally omitted information about the true nature of the assault and the investigation,” the indictment said.

The teens gathered at Donchak’s home shortly after the fight, the indictment said, and Piekarsky’s mother showed up and told them that she had been in contact with her boyfriend, Hayes — and that they needed to “get their stories straight” because Hayes had told her that Ramirez’s condition was deteriorating.

Moyer separately went to the home of another teen present during the attack “and told him to talk to his friends about the version of events that would be communicated to the authorities,” the indictment said.

Moyer allegedly advised another teen to get rid of the sneakers he wore during the fight. Hayes and Moyer also tried, in their reports, to “falsely exaggerate” the culpability of a teen identified in court papers as “Participant 2” and minimize Piekarsky’s role, according to court papers.

A borough official tried to get the police department to recuse itself, but Nestor refused, the indictment said.

Shenandoah, a blue-collar town of 5,000. is best known as the birthplace of big band musicians Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey and the home of Mrs. T’s Pierogies. Football, along with the town’s many block parties and ethnic festivals, is a major attraction. Home games at Shenandoah Valley High School typically draw thousands of fans.

It’s also got a growing number of Hispanic residents drawn by jobs in factories and farm fields. Hispanics are believed to comprise as much as 10 percent of the population. Ramirez, a 25-year-old native of the small Mexican town of Iramuco, was in the United States illegally working at various jobs.