IL - Attempted police shooting results in 90-year prison term
By CHRIS DETTRO
The State Journal-Register
Posted Nov 30, 2012 @ 02:28 PM
Last update Nov 30, 2012 @ 07:14 PM
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Sangamon County Jail
Jesus Ramirez
A 28-year-old Springfield man convicted of trying to kill two law enforcement officers early last year has been sentenced to a total of 90 years in prison.
Jesus Ramirez of the 200 block of North English Avenue was convicted in September of attempted murder of a police officer, armed violence and possession of more than 900 grams of cocaine with the intent to deliver.
Circuit Judge Patrick Kelley on Friday sentenced Ramirez to 70 years for attempted murder; 20 years for armed violence, to be served consecutively; and 30 years on the drug conviction, to be served concurrently with the other sentences.
Ramirez will have to serve at least 85 percent of the attempted murder sentence and half the armed violence term, for a minimum of 69 years, six months in prison.
Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser recommended a total of 125 years, while defense attorney Sam Adam Jr. of Chicago asked for a minimum 50-year sentence for his client.
“The victims were law enforcement people doing their jobs,” Kelley said. “They were law enforcement people with families who put their lives on the line every day doing their jobs.”
He said Ramirez “had been around the block,” citing two prior felony convictions and the fact that he was deported in 2008 to his native Mexico, only to again cross the border illegally into the United States.
Ramirez fled from a traffic stop on Interstate 55 near Chenoa about 12:30 a.m. Jan. 13, 2011, and drove to Springfield at speeds approaching 100 mph. When the sport utility vehicle he was driving spun out in the snow at the Stevenson Drive exit, Ramirez jumped out of the car and attempted to fire a 9mm handgun at both Springfield Police Sgt. Chris Russell and Sangamon County Deputy Drew Dickason.
That incident was captured on videotape from one of the squad cars.
Ramirez then ran toward the nearby Drury Inn and again tried to fire the pistol as he held it under his chin. The gun never fired because the safety was on.
Police found almost a kilogram of cocaine wrapped and pressed into a brick inside a box in the SUV.
Adam said no one was hurt in the incident and praised the officers for “showing extreme restraint in not shooting the defendant.”
But he called anything more than a 50-year sentence “overkill.”
“You have here a young man who made some very bad decisions that evening, and thank God no one was hurt,” Adam said.
Ramirez told Kelley he didn’t understand how the system that could allow such a harsh sentence when no one was hurt.
“It’s just not a fair anything,” he said.
Attempted police shooting results in 90-year prison term - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register
