Shenandoah men sentenced to 9 years in hate-crime death
By Peter E. Bortner (Staff Writer)
Published: February 24, 2011

WILKES-BARRE - Derrick M. Donchak and Brandon J. Piekarsky, two men convicted of a hate crime for their part in the fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant, must each spend nine years behind bars, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.


"This is serious business in America," Senior U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo said before imposing the sentences on Donchak, 21, of Shenandoah, and Piekarsky, 19, of Shenandoah Heights, for violating the civil rights of Luis Eduardo Ramirez Zavala. "There are no winners here, only losers."

The sentences, which each defendant's lawyer promised to appeal, bring at least a temporary pause in a 2½-year saga that brought national attention to Shenandoah by raising issues of race, ethnicity and illegal immigration.

While Donchak said nothing during the hearing, which lasted more than two hours, Piekarsky spoke publicly for the first time about what occurred on the fateful evening of July 12, 2008.

"It was not racial," he said of Ramirez's beating. "I am not a racist. I never was a racist."

That contrasted with the view taken by U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor Myesha K. Braden, who recalled the civil rights movement in telling Caputo that Ramirez died solely because he was Hispanic, and that the effects of the beating went beyond his death.

"Because of Mr. Ramirez's race, he was somehow worthy of being beaten like a dog. Mr. Ramirez's race is the reason that he died," Braden said. "Every Hispanic member of the community was victimized. What happened to Luis Ramirez was no different than what happened in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s."

In his sentence, Caputo directed the federal Bureau of Prisons to ensure neither Donchak nor Piekarsky faces retaliation while behind bars, and recommended that each serve his sentence in a federal correctional institution near his home in order to facilitate family visits.

Caputo also ordered each man to serve three years on supervised release after leaving prison, submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities and pay costs - $550 restitution to the state Victims Compensation Assistance Program and a special assessment, $100 for Piekarsky and $300 for Donchak. He said neither defendant had the financial ability to pay a fine.

There is no parole in the federal system. At most, Donchak and Piekarsky could see their sentences reduced by about one year, four months.

Donchak and Piekarsky were found guilty Oct. 14, 2010 of violating Ramirez's rights under the federal Fair Housing Act. The jury also found Donchak guilty of obstruction of justice in connection with allegedly trying to cover up the facts of the beating.

Prosecutors charged the two with participating in Ramirez's beating July 12, 2008 in Shenandoah. Ramirez, 25, of Shenandoah, died of head injuries two days later.

Caputo decided the killing of Ramirez constituted voluntary manslaughter, which meant Donchak and Piekarsky faced up to 188 months in prison. If the case had been ruled involuntary manslaughter, the two men would have faced up to 46 months in prison.

"I don't think any of the conditions of involuntary manslaughter are met," he said. "The best underlying offense is voluntary manslaughter."

However, Caputo said he sentenced each man below the guideline recommendation due to their lack of other criminal behavior and their reputations in the community as expressed in numerous letters from Shenandoah-area citizens.

"You obviously have acquitted yourself very well in the community," Caputo told Donchak, after making a similar remark to Piekarsky.

He also considered the fact that each man already had served prison time due to earlier convictions.

A Schuylkill County jury convicted the two men of simple assault and alcohol-related offenses following a May 1, 2009 trial. Jurors acquitted them of more serious charges, including third-degree murder, with which Piekarsky had been charged.

Donchak was sentenced to seven to 23 months and Piekarsky to six months and one week to 23 months. Each man has been paroled from his county sentence.

Caputo rejected several defense requests for him to consider other factors in reducing the sentences, particularly the contention that their sentences should be reduced because another man involved in the assault, Brian Scully, 20, of Shenandoah, was never prosecuted.

"The decision not to charge Brian Scully was irrational," argued James A. Swetz, Stroudsburg, Piekarsky's lawyer. "He was the one who started using racial slurs."

Scully's case was prosecuted solely by Schuylkill County juvenile authorities. He testified against Donchak and Piekarsky in county and federal court.

However, Caputo said the decision not to charge Scully was a matter of prosecutorial discretion and irrelevant to sentencing, conforming with the opinion of Braden.

"These two defendants' actions and activities stand on their own," she said.

Another participant in the assault, Colin J. Walsh, 19, of Shenandoah Heights, has pleaded guilty to violating Ramirez's rights under the Fair Housing Act and is awaiting sentencing.

Swetz and William A. Fetterhoff, Harrisburg, Donchak's lawyer, said after the hearing that they would appeal their clients' convictions and sentences to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

pbortner@republicanherald.com
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