Teens Sentenced in Mexican Man’s Death – Plaintiffs Claim Racial Bias in Sentencing

By Sarah Harper

Published on June 24, 2009

A Pennsylvania jury sentenced Brandon Piekarsky, 17, and Derrick Donchak, 19, the Pennsylvania teens charged in the July death of Luis Ramirez, 25, to jail time. (The jury sentenced Piekarsky to 6 to 23 months and Donchak to 7 to 23 months). The plaintiff and critics believe the crime - and the sentencing - was motivated by racial prejudice.

On July 12 in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, Piekarsky, Donchak, and several other teens allegedly baited Ramirez, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, into an argument on the street. According to reports, the teens had been drinking. They beat Ramirez so severely that, according to a medical testimony, brain tissue oozed from his skull. One of the other teens involved pleaded guilty in juvenile court, and another's case is being processed in federal courts.

Critics of the teens' sentence, including the judge in the case and Pennsylvania's governor, reportedly believe the sentence was too lenient. The teens' attorney reportedly believes it is too harsh, since state laws would have permitted probation.

Advocacy groups, who have called on the Department of Justice to bring hate crime charges against the teens, are expected to continue fighting the sentence.

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