January 27, 2011: Pennsylvania Police Officers Receive Mixed Verdicts in Covering Up Hate-Crime Murder

Former Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, police chief Matthew Nestor is convicted of filing false police reports, and his former colleague William Moyer is convicted of lying to the FBI, in a case centered on the 2008 beating death of immigrant Luis Ramirez (see July 12, 2008 and After). FBI investigators determined that the beating death of Ramirez was a hate crime. Nestor, Moyer, and former police officer Jason Hayes were charged with an array of federal crimes regarding their role in covering up the specifics of the Ramirez murder by a group of local white teenagers (see December 15, 2009). Nestor is found not guilty of conspiracy, and Moyer is found not guilty of filing a false report, tampering with evidence, and tampering with a witness. Hayes is acquitted of obstruction of justice. Nestor faces up to 20 years in prison for his conviction, while Moyer faces up to 25 years. Nestor’s lawyers say they will appeal their client’s conviction, but Moyer’s lawyers say they may not. Hayes says he wants to become a police officer again. Nestor and another Shenandoah police officer, former Captain Jamie Gennarini, face unrelated charges of taking part in an extortion racket. Both Nestor and Gennarini face civil charges in the death of Hispanic resident David Vega, who died in the Shenandoah county jail; the civil charges say Nestor and Gennarini killed Vega and altered the circumstances to make his death look like a suicide. [Hazleton Standard Speaker, 1/28/2011] Lisa Navarrete of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights group, says, “I’m disappointed that they weren’t convicted of all the charges.” The verdict “does show that these police officers did interfere in the case.” [New York Times, 1/27/2011] The two teenagers accused of beating Ramirez to death were recently convicted on federal charges (see October 14, 2010).