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12-15-2009, 05:24 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/15/hate.crime/index.html
Washington (CNN) -- Five people, including three police officers, have been indicted in the fatal race-related beating of a Latino man in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Two indictments charge the five with federal hate crime charges, as well as obstruction of justice and conspiracy, authorities said in a written statement. A federal grand jury handed up the indictments last week, and they were unsealed Tuesday.
Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky are charged with a hate crime (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/hate_crimes) for beating Luis Ramirez in July 2008 while shouting racial epithets at him, according to the department. Ramirez died two days later.
"Following the beating, Donchak, Piekarsky and others, including members of the Shenandoah Police Department, participated in a scheme to obstruct the investigation of the fatal assault," the Justice Department said. As a result, Donchak faces three additional counts of conspiring to obstruct justice and related offenses, officials said.
Shenandoah Police Chief Matthew Nestor and two other officers are charged with conspiring to obstruct justice in the Ramirez investigation. Nestor and a fourth police officer are named in a third indictment and charged with extortion and civil rights violations related to police corruption, the Justice Department said.
In June, an all-white Pennsylvania jury convicted Donchak and Piekarsky, then 19 and 17, of misdemeanor simple assault in Ramirez's death and acquitted them of felony counts including aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and hindering apprehension. The two were sentenced to up to 23 months in the county jail. The incident divided the small, rural mining town of Shenandoah into camps for and against the youths and became a flash point for racial tensions nationwide.
Jurors found Piekarsky not guilty of third-degree murder. Prosecutors alleged he delivered a fatal kick to Ramirez's head after Ramirez was knocked to the ground in the alcohol-fueled brawl on a residential Shenandoah street.
After the verdict, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recommending the Justice Department pursue civil rights (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/civil_rights) charges.
"The evidence suggests that Mr. Ramirez was targeted, beaten and killed because he was Mexican," Rendell wrote. "Such lawlessness and violence hurts not only the victim of the attack, but also our towns and communities that are torn apart by such bigotry and intolerance."
Gladys Limon, an attorney representing Crystal Dillman, Ramirez's fiancee, told CNN, "Crystal says this is a [Christmas] gift from God, that this will bring justice to Luis."
"She is overwhelmed and is feeling a range of emotions," Limon said. "His family has suffered a great deal in the past year."
It has been particularly hard for Ramirez's family as the holidays approach, she said, "The children miss their father. Crystal misses having him around for the holidays. This last month has been full of anguish ... these indictments grant them some peace."
A petition calling for federal charges in the case garnered 50,000 signatures, Limon said.
Nestor, police Lt. William Moyer and Officer Jason Hayes are charged with conspiring to obstruct justice, with Moyer facing additional charges of witness and evidence tampering and making false statements to the FBI, authorities said.
At the time of Ramirez's death, Hayes was dating Piekarsky's mother, according to the indictment, and Moyer's son was a high school freshman who played football with the youths involved in the attack.
Nestor, Moyer and Hayes intentionally failed to "memorialize or record" statements made by Piekarsky about the incident, the indictment said, and "wrote false and misleading official reports that memorialized false statements by the persons involved in the racially motivated assault ... and that intentionally omitted information about the true nature of the assault and the investigation."
If convicted on the hate crime charges, Donchak and Piekarsky face a maximum penalty of up to life in prison. Donchak also faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted of obstruction, and an additional five years for conspiring to obstruct justice.
"Violence motivated by bigotry and hate has no place in America, and yet it remains all too prevalent in many of our communities," Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said in the Justice Department statement.
Pennsylvania (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/pennsylvania) prosecutors alleged a group of teens including Donchak and Piekarsky baited Ramirez, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, into a confrontation following a night of drinking. Donchak was convicted of corrupting minors for providing the alcohol to his friends before the fight.
According to the federal indictment, Donchak and Piekarsky were walking home from a local festival when they encountered Ramirez, and they attacked him on a street "by striking and kicking him while members of the group yelled racial slurs at him," the Justice Department said.
A medical examiner ruled Ramirez died from blunt-force trauma to the head, according to the indictment.
Dillman told CNN in October the attackers "said some racist remarks to him. Truly, in my heart, I believe they beat him up because he was Latino."
While Dillman welcomes the indictments, she is fearful for her safety, Limon said. Dillman has moved to an undisclosed location outside Shenandoah. Her truck was vandalized, and some people have yelled racial epithets at her on the streets, the attorney said.
In the third, unrelated, indictment, Nestor and police Capt. Jamie Gennarini, described by the Justice Department as Nestor's second in command, are charged with multiple counts of extortion and civil rights violations. Prosecutors allege in that indictment that from 2004 through 2007, Nestor "conspired to extort cash payments from several illegal gambling operations in the Shenandoah area and obstructed the investigation of the extortion scheme." Nestor and Gennarini demanded a $2,000 cash payment from a local businessman and his family in May 2007 in exchange for releasing the businessman from custody, according to the indictment.
Nestor, Moyer and Hayes each face up to 20 years in prison on each of the obstruction charges if convicted, authorities said, along with an additional five years for conspiring to obstruct justice. Moyer faces an additional five years if convicted of making false statements to the FBI.
Also, Nestor and Gennarini face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each of the extortion counts if convicted, and a maximum sentence of 10 years for conspiring to violate civil rights.
A hearing in the case was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in federal court in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
"The FBI wants to hear from anyone who may have information regarding alleged civil rights violations or public corruption in Schuylkill County," the Justice Department said Tuesday. Those with information can contact the Allentown, Pennsylvania, FBI office.
Washington (CNN) -- Five people, including three police officers, have been indicted in the fatal race-related beating of a Latino man in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Two indictments charge the five with federal hate crime charges, as well as obstruction of justice and conspiracy, authorities said in a written statement. A federal grand jury handed up the indictments last week, and they were unsealed Tuesday.
Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky are charged with a hate crime (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/hate_crimes) for beating Luis Ramirez in July 2008 while shouting racial epithets at him, according to the department. Ramirez died two days later.
"Following the beating, Donchak, Piekarsky and others, including members of the Shenandoah Police Department, participated in a scheme to obstruct the investigation of the fatal assault," the Justice Department said. As a result, Donchak faces three additional counts of conspiring to obstruct justice and related offenses, officials said.
Shenandoah Police Chief Matthew Nestor and two other officers are charged with conspiring to obstruct justice in the Ramirez investigation. Nestor and a fourth police officer are named in a third indictment and charged with extortion and civil rights violations related to police corruption, the Justice Department said.
In June, an all-white Pennsylvania jury convicted Donchak and Piekarsky, then 19 and 17, of misdemeanor simple assault in Ramirez's death and acquitted them of felony counts including aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and hindering apprehension. The two were sentenced to up to 23 months in the county jail. The incident divided the small, rural mining town of Shenandoah into camps for and against the youths and became a flash point for racial tensions nationwide.
Jurors found Piekarsky not guilty of third-degree murder. Prosecutors alleged he delivered a fatal kick to Ramirez's head after Ramirez was knocked to the ground in the alcohol-fueled brawl on a residential Shenandoah street.
After the verdict, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recommending the Justice Department pursue civil rights (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/civil_rights) charges.
"The evidence suggests that Mr. Ramirez was targeted, beaten and killed because he was Mexican," Rendell wrote. "Such lawlessness and violence hurts not only the victim of the attack, but also our towns and communities that are torn apart by such bigotry and intolerance."
Gladys Limon, an attorney representing Crystal Dillman, Ramirez's fiancee, told CNN, "Crystal says this is a [Christmas] gift from God, that this will bring justice to Luis."
"She is overwhelmed and is feeling a range of emotions," Limon said. "His family has suffered a great deal in the past year."
It has been particularly hard for Ramirez's family as the holidays approach, she said, "The children miss their father. Crystal misses having him around for the holidays. This last month has been full of anguish ... these indictments grant them some peace."
A petition calling for federal charges in the case garnered 50,000 signatures, Limon said.
Nestor, police Lt. William Moyer and Officer Jason Hayes are charged with conspiring to obstruct justice, with Moyer facing additional charges of witness and evidence tampering and making false statements to the FBI, authorities said.
At the time of Ramirez's death, Hayes was dating Piekarsky's mother, according to the indictment, and Moyer's son was a high school freshman who played football with the youths involved in the attack.
Nestor, Moyer and Hayes intentionally failed to "memorialize or record" statements made by Piekarsky about the incident, the indictment said, and "wrote false and misleading official reports that memorialized false statements by the persons involved in the racially motivated assault ... and that intentionally omitted information about the true nature of the assault and the investigation."
If convicted on the hate crime charges, Donchak and Piekarsky face a maximum penalty of up to life in prison. Donchak also faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted of obstruction, and an additional five years for conspiring to obstruct justice.
"Violence motivated by bigotry and hate has no place in America, and yet it remains all too prevalent in many of our communities," Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said in the Justice Department statement.
Pennsylvania (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/pennsylvania) prosecutors alleged a group of teens including Donchak and Piekarsky baited Ramirez, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, into a confrontation following a night of drinking. Donchak was convicted of corrupting minors for providing the alcohol to his friends before the fight.
According to the federal indictment, Donchak and Piekarsky were walking home from a local festival when they encountered Ramirez, and they attacked him on a street "by striking and kicking him while members of the group yelled racial slurs at him," the Justice Department said.
A medical examiner ruled Ramirez died from blunt-force trauma to the head, according to the indictment.
Dillman told CNN in October the attackers "said some racist remarks to him. Truly, in my heart, I believe they beat him up because he was Latino."
While Dillman welcomes the indictments, she is fearful for her safety, Limon said. Dillman has moved to an undisclosed location outside Shenandoah. Her truck was vandalized, and some people have yelled racial epithets at her on the streets, the attorney said.
In the third, unrelated, indictment, Nestor and police Capt. Jamie Gennarini, described by the Justice Department as Nestor's second in command, are charged with multiple counts of extortion and civil rights violations. Prosecutors allege in that indictment that from 2004 through 2007, Nestor "conspired to extort cash payments from several illegal gambling operations in the Shenandoah area and obstructed the investigation of the extortion scheme." Nestor and Gennarini demanded a $2,000 cash payment from a local businessman and his family in May 2007 in exchange for releasing the businessman from custody, according to the indictment.
Nestor, Moyer and Hayes each face up to 20 years in prison on each of the obstruction charges if convicted, authorities said, along with an additional five years for conspiring to obstruct justice. Moyer faces an additional five years if convicted of making false statements to the FBI.
Also, Nestor and Gennarini face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each of the extortion counts if convicted, and a maximum sentence of 10 years for conspiring to violate civil rights.
A hearing in the case was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in federal court in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
"The FBI wants to hear from anyone who may have information regarding alleged civil rights violations or public corruption in Schuylkill County," the Justice Department said Tuesday. Those with information can contact the Allentown, Pennsylvania, FBI office.