Pa. men, police indicted in beating death

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Two Pennsylvania men and four police officers were indicted for a hate crime and corruption in the fatal beating a Latino man, the Justice Department said.

One indictment, unsealed Tuesday, charged Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky, both of Shenandoah, Pa., with a federal hate crime for fatally beating Luis Ramirez in July 2008 while shouting racial epithets at him, the Justice Department said Tuesday in a release.

Following the beating, the indictment alleged, Donchak, Piekarsky and others -- including members of the Shenandoah Police Department -- obstructed the investigation. Donchak was charged in three additional counts for conspiring to obstruct justice and related offenses.

A second indictment charged Shenandoah Police Chief Matthew Nestor, Lt. William Moyer and police officer Jason Hayes with conspiring to obstruct justice during the Ramirez investigation, Justice Department officials said. Moyer also was charged with witness- and evidence-tampering, and with lying to the FBI.

"Violence motivated by bigotry and hate has no place in America, and yet it remains all too prevalent in many of our communities," Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for Justice Department, said.

Nestor and police Capt. Jamie Gennarini were charged in a third indictment with multiple counts of extortion and civil rights violations, the Justice Department said. From 2004 through 2007, the indictment alleged, Nestor participated in an extortion scheme from several illegal gambling operations in the Shenandoah area and obstructed an investigation into the scheme.

The indictments were returned under seal Thursday.