Jose Pacheco Pleads Guilty

Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant was stabbed and killed on Nov. 8, 2008. His attackers were 7 teenagers - all between 16 and 17 at the time. They were all students at Patchogue-Medford High School in Long Island, NY and were out ''beaner jumping,'' a derogatory term used as a euphemism for attacking Hispanics.

Jeffrey Conroy is being held on charges that include second-degree murder as a hate crime, manslaughter and gang assault. Prosecutors have said that it was Jeffrey Conroy who did the actual stabbing leading to Marcelo Lucero's death.

See the details here and here

Charged were: Jordan Dasch, Nicholas Hausch, Kevin Shea, Anthony Hartford, Christopher Overton, Jose Pacheco and Jeffrey Conroy. See the indictment here

Jose M. Pacheco has followed the lead of Nicholas A. Hausch and pleaded guilty to gang assault as a hate crime, conspiracy and three counts of attempted assault as a hate crime. He faces 5 to 25 years behind bars when sentenced. The others have all pleaded not guilty.

Jose Pacheco, the son of a black mother and a Puerto Rican father, is the only Hispanic in the gang of 7 and, as part of his plea deal, will be expected to testify against the others. Pacheco admitted that he had participated in other attacks on Hispanics. He said they often used racial epithets when confronting victims.

Dressed in a dark suit, with his hands shackled behind him, the 18-year-old Pacheco was asked by prosecutor Megan O'Donnell, "Were all seven of you walking the streets looking for an Hispanic man?" "Yes," Pacheco responded, his head bowed.

"These were marauders," Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said, "bent on attacking Hispanics."

"It confounds me," Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said of Pacheco's involvement in attacks on Hispanics. He was one of the ring leaders, I can't understand why or how he could possibly do this."

Joselo Lucero, the brother of Marcelo Lucero, was in court when Pacheco admitted to participating in the racially-motivated attack. He said the second confession made the case against the others much stronger. Speaking of Pacheco he also said:

"This is unspeakable," Joselo Lucero said in broken English. "I don't understand how you can attack someone of your own kind. Just because you were born here doesn't make you no better than nobody."

Suffolk County has seen thousands of Hispanics settle there in recent years. U.S. Census figures show the number of Hispanics has nearly doubled, from 7.1 percent of the population in 1990 to 13.7 percent in 2008. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center issued a report in September titled "Climate of Fear; Latino Immigrants in Suffolk County," cataloguing a litany of anti-immigrant attacks dating back a decade. they found “a pervasive climate of fear in the Latino community” in Suffolk County.

Many victims have been reluctant to contact the police, fearing that they would be asked about their immigration status. However, at the Marcelo Lucero funeral, the preacher encouraged any other victims of these kinds of attacks to come forward. Many did. Prosecutors were able to charge the gang of 7 with eight additional charges because of their cooperation.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer has said officers don’t ask victims whether they’re illegal immigrants. He assigned a Hispanic officer to command a local precinct after the killing.

Pacheco will be sentenced in January and faces 5 to 25 years in prison. His lawyer said Pacheco has "deep regrets" about what happened.

"There are only losers here, no winners," said attorney Christopher Brocato.

 Joselo Lucero agrees but says he will be present for all future court dates for the remaining five defendants.

"I need to be here for my brother," Lucero said. "To see justice."

 

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