Two Former Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, Police Officers Sentenced for Falsifying Information About the Beating of a Latino Man

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced that Matthew Nestor and William Moyer were sentenced today for falsifying information related to the investigation into the beating death of Luis Ramirez.   Ramirez died on July 14, 2008, as a result of injuries he suffered after being attacked by four high school football players from Shenandoah, Pa., three of whom were convicted of federal hate crimes related to Ramirez’s death and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 55 months to 9 years. 

On Jan. 27, 2011, a federal jury found Nestor, the former chief of the Shenandoah Police Department, guilty of filing a report that contained materially false information with the intent of misleading the federal investigation. Moyer, the former lieutenant at the Shenandoah Police Department, was found guilty of making false statements to FBI agents concerning information provided by a witness at the scene. 

Nestor was sentenced today to 13 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. Nestor was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment and perform 50 hours of community service. Moyer was sentenced to three months in prison, followed by one year supervised release. Moyer was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment and perform 20 hours of community service.

“Americans rely on their law enforcement officials to protect public safety and serve justice, but these officers chose to obstruct the very investigation they were charged with conducting,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. “The Department of Justice will take action against anyone who interferes with the enforcement of our hate crimes laws, especially when those interfering with such enforcement are also violating their oaths to uphold the law.”

This case was investigated by the FBI, and was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Myesha Braden and Shan Patel of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.