Prosecutors seek to nix plea deal for Derry man now suspected in Florida sexual assault

Westmoreland prosecutors want to void a plea deal made in October with a Derry Township man in two sexual assault cases after it was disclosed that he is a suspect in another attack against a woman authorities contend occurred earlier this month in Florida.

“The commonwealth is no longer comfortable with the plea deal reached in October,” Assistant District Attorney Theresa Miller-Sporrer said in court Tuesday.

Khachek Hamerski, 29, appeared by video from a the Westmoreland County Prison, where he is being held without bond. He turned himself in over the weekend after an arrest warrant was issued following disclosure that he is being investigated by police in Delray Beach, Fla., on allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman there in early January.

In October, Hamerski pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault and strangulation of a Ligonier woman and indecent assault and strangulation of a Penn Township woman in 2018. He was allowed to remain free on $25,000 bond until a sentencing hearing that was scheduled for Tuesday.

Hamerski was to receive a 2- to 5-year prison sentence as part of the plea bargain.

“He voided terms of the plea agreement. Mr. Hamerski engaged in conduct of a sexually deviate behavior,” Miller-Sporrer said of the new allegations.

She said she spoke over the weekend with a Florida woman who claims that she met Hamerski on a flight from Florida and that he traveled south to meet with her during the first week of January. Miller-Sporrer said the woman claims Hamerski held her captive for several days, during which time she said she was repeatedly sexually assaulted.

Hamerski did not respond to the allegations. Defense lawyers Mike Ferguson and Tim Andrews said they were not aware of any details about the Florida investigation.

Ferguson said he wanted to research whether it was legal for the prosecution to void a plea deal after it was approved in court by a judge.

“I’ve never seen this particular circumstance, and it raises questions we don’t know the answer to,” Ferguson said.

Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio ordered Hamerski’s defense team to file a written response within 20 days to the prosecution’s request to void the deal. She delayed the scheduled sentencing hearing for at least three months.

Hamerski will remain in custody without bond, the judge ruled.