thetimes-tribune.com
by peter e. bortner (staff writer)
Published: January 13, 2012

PHILADELPHIA - As their clients sat in prison Thursday, lawyers for two Shenandoah-area men convicted of violating the civil rights of an illegal Mexican immigrant fatally beaten in 2008 asked a three-judge federal appellate panel to throw out their clients' convictions.

"The federal government's attempt to put a square peg in a round hole," is how James A. Swetz described the case against his client, Brandon J. Piekarsky, and Derrick M. Donchak during the 45-minute argument to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel.

However, the government's lawyer, Angela M. Miller, said there was nothing wrong with the conviction of either defendant and the panel, which consisted of Chief Judge Theodore A. McKee and Judges Julio M. Fuentes and Kent A. Jordan, should reject their appeals.

"We ask you to affirm the convictions and the sentences," Ms. Miller said.

Mr. Donchak, 21, of Shenandoah, and Mr. Piekarsky, 20, of Shenandoah Heights, each is serving nine years in a federal correctional institution for their roles in the beating of Luis Eduardo Ramirez Zavala, 25, of Shenandoah, on July 12, 2008.

Mr. Ramirez died of head injuries at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, two days after the beating. His case attracted national and international attention due to issues of ethnicity and illegal immigration.

After an eight-day trial, a jury in Scranton convicted each man Oct. 14, 2010, of violating Mr. Ramirez's rights under the federal Fair Housing Act, and also convicted Mr. Donchak of obstruction of justice.

Senior U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo sentenced each man Feb. 23, 2011. Neither man attended the argument.

Contact the writer: pbortner@republicanherald.com

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