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First Posted: 4/7/2012 A federal appellate court has upheld the convictions of two former Shenandoah police officers charged with hindering an investigation into the hate crime beating death of an illegal immigrant.
Matthew Nestor, the former police chief, and former officer William Moyer were convicted in January 2011 of charges related to actions they took in investigating the 2008 death of Luis Ramirez.
Ramirez, who was in the United States illegally, was beaten to death by a group of Shenandoah teenagers. Federal authorities alleged Nestor and Moyer took actions to shield several of the suspects from prosecution.
A federal jury convicted Nestor of falsifying a police report, while Moyer was convicted of lying to FBI agents. Nestor was sentenced in June 2011 to 13 months in prison. Moyer was sentenced to three months.
Both men appealed the convictions to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing, in part, there was insufficient evidence to support the verdict.
Prosecutors had alleged Nestor withheld the names of several of the suspected assailants in an attempt to shield them from charges. In his appeal, Nestor argued those omissions were not criminal because there was no proof he had a duty to disclose that information.
 The Third Circuit disagreed.
"It borders on the ridiculous to assert that a chief of police would not have a duty to disclose the identity of suspects in his official police reports," the court said.
In Moyer's case, prosecutors alleged Moyer falsely told FBI agents that an eyewitness to the Ramirez assault never identified anyone involved in the attack.
The Third Circuit said evidence at trial showed the witness, Francis Ney, did tell Moyer he saw a bunch of teenagers beating Ramirez.
"This evidence is more than sufficient to support the jury's finding that Moyer falsely stated to the FBI that Ney did not identify the suspects," the court said.

Court upholds convictions of 2 Shenandoah officers