WILKES-BARRE - A federal judge sentenced two former Shenandoah police officers to prison Wednesday, telling them their friendships in the close-knit borough compromised their work in the investigation of an illegal immigrant's beating death.
U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo ordered former police Chief Matthew Nestor to serve 13 months in federal prison for filing a false police report. He then sentenced former Lt. William Moyer to three months in jail for lying to the FBI.
Federal prosecutors had accused Nestor, Moyer and another officer of conspiring to cover up the July 2008 beating death of Luis Ramirez, 25, who died days after an alleged racially motivated attack by a group of white teenagers known to the officers.
"In a close-knit community like this, you have loyalties, allegiances and alliances," Caputo said. "This is a test for all people in law enforcement."
During their chance to address Caputo, both men professed their innocence and vowed to appeal. Nestor's attorney went as far to call the government's case "nonsense."
While Caputo sentenced Nestor to more than a year in prison, he deviated sharply from the federal sentencing guidelines, which called for a standard prison range of 57 to 71 months. Caputo said he believed the guidelines were "overly harsh."
Two of Ramirez's assailants, 21-year-old Derrick Donchak and 19-year-old Brandon Piekarsky, were convicted of a federal hate crime and are serving nine-year prison sentences. Prior to the federal charges against them, they were acquitted of the most serious charges at a Schuylkill County trial. Federal prosecutors have maintained the acquittals stemmed from purposely botched police work.
Nestor's initial police report failed to note the identities of the suspects and omitted the fact that he had numerous phone conversations with one of the defendants' mothers, Tammy Piekarsky, in the hours after Ramirez was attacked, authorities said.
"He was aware the report would mislead," said Department of Justice Attorney Myesha Braden, who noted Tammy Piekarsky was an unindicted co-conspirator. "He undermined the system of justice."
Nestor's attorney Joseph Nahas called the government's case "nonsense" and said any omissions in the initial report had no bearing on how the investigation unfolded.
"What Matthew Nestor allegedly did, how did it obstruct a federal investigation? Everybody knew who they were. They (the names) weren't there, but it didn't obstruct justice," Nahas said.
Nahas noted Nestor was at a bar the night the Ramirez incident occurred and almost immediately called the district attorney's office to investigate with his on-duty officers.
"How does a man obstruct justice when he's calling outside agencies for help?" Nahas asked.
In addressing Caputo, Nestor said, "I did not sit down with criminal intentions. I set out to write a concise, informative police report on what I did, what I saw, and what I heard. Never in my wildest imagination did I sit down and say, 'Maybe the FBI is going to get involved and I need to help these boys out.'"
While leaving court, Nestor said he respected Caputo's sentence and would appeal his conviction to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
Moyer's conviction of lying to the FBI relates to his encounter with a man as the Ramirez beating was unfolding nearby. Police had said the two officers on duty had simultaneous reports of a fight and of a man with a gun and they initially expended efforts to find the man with a gun, not knowing if the cases were related. Moyer had initially told the FBI that, immediately upon arrival, the witness, Edward Ney, told him there was a man chasing people with a gun in the area, prosecutors said. Prosecutors say a 911 tape of the encounter does not include Ney saying anything about a man with a gun. Once confronted, Moyer later changed his story and said Ney told him about the man with a gun once he was placed in a police cruiser, prosecutors said. Ney acknowledged in court proceedings he did, at some point that night, tell police he saw a man with a gun and police later located a BB gun near the scene.
"That's it. That's all I was convicted of," Moyer said Wednesday.
Moyer explained that when the FBI asked him when Ney mentioned a man with a gun, he must have said "when he came running up to the car."
"Here, it was 15 seconds after he came running up to the car. He said it to us after he hung up on the 911 tape," Moyer said.
Ney has testified the officers did not seem interested in trying to track down the suspects in the beating, and Moyer's lie about the interaction was proof, prosecutors said.
"This is a serious offense," Braden said. "If you are not going to tell the truth, say nothing."
Caputo ordered Nestor and Moyer to report to federal prison on June 29, denying their motions to remain free on bail, pending the appeals.
"Naturally, I'm not pleased, but I did not lie," Moyer said. "I fully cooperated with them. We'll see what happens down the road, so I can clear my name."
Federal prosecutors declined to comment after sentencing.
Nestor faced a maximum of 20 years in prison, while Moyer faced a five-year maximum.
Nestor and Moyer were convicted of one charge each after a 13-day trial in January. In that trial, Nestor was acquitted of a charge of conspiracy. Moyer was acquitted of four charges - falsifying a police report, concealing evidence, obstructing justice and conspiracy. A third officer, Jason Hayes, the boyfriend of Tammy Piekarsky, was acquitted of the two charges against him.
In an unrelated case last month, Nestor and a fourth officer were acquitted of civil rights and obstruction counts after being accused of extorting money from bookmakers running illegal gambling operations.
bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2055