Thread: MO: Murder suspect admits to belonging to violent gang

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Murder suspect admits to belonging to violent gang
( Air Date: 2/20/2007 )
A murder suspect admits to being in Saint Joseph illegally and to belonging to a violent gang.

Francisco Ramos is charged with murdering an unidentified Hispanic man in St. Joseph`s mid-town area.

Police found a Triumph Foods I.D. on Ramos and he admits he`s from Guatemala and came here illegally. He`s been working at Triumph under an alias. Ramos told police he`s a member of MS13, one of the toughest, most violent gangs in the nation.

Mara Salvatucha, better known as MS13, is a criminal gang with roots in El Salvador but its branches extend into Central America, The United States and even right into Missouri.

A man accused of murder in midtown St. Joseph admits to being a member.

"He had a large tattoo across his back `the criminals` and then there are certain tattoo markings that indicate that he belongs to that affiliation," St. Joseph Police Commander, Charles Robinson, said.

St. Joseph Police investigators said MS13 members commonly cover themselves in tattoos. They`ve learned to keep an eye out for the unusual.

"We have investigators who are trained in this to understand what markings to look for, what they look like, and also things they might do in a commission of a crime," Robinson said.

Police do not believe the midtown murder is gang-related but say MS13 is making its mark on St. Joseph.
"We`ve noticed the graffiti around, and some of that is definitely MS affiliated," Robinson said.

At least one member, Francisco Ramos, came to the U.S. illegally. Police found a Triumph Foods I.D. card on Ramos the night of the murder. Ramos was using the fake name, Edguardo Matos and a fake I.D. Triumph Foods confirms "Edguardo" is an employee.

"He was here illegally and had been approximately for a year and a half," Robinson said.

Company Representative Patt Lily said it`s just too difficult to spot good fakes. The pork-processing plant uses a national database to match social security numbers to names. Lily said there`s no way to tell how many people are using the same information.

Police said Ramos was an imitation. Immigration and customs enforcement, or "ICE," now has a detainer on him.

"If for whatever reason he`s released from custody, if he bonds out or if charges are dropped, he`ll come into ICE custody," Carl Rusnok, ICE information, said.

Lily said Triumph catches quite a few people with illegal documents trying to get a job but he said they`re turned away.

Police are still working to identify the victim. They aren`t saying what started the fight but said the men lived and worked together.

Ramos is being held at the Buchanan County jail on a $100,000 bond.

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Posted on Thu, Feb. 22, 2007



Murder suspect, victim used fake IDs to work at Triumph


Associated Press

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Although a slain man and a suspect in his death both used false identification to work at Triumph Foods, the company doesn't plan to change its hiring practices, company and government officials said.

The man who was stabbed Saturday worked at Triumph using the name Frank Hernandez Flores, but police don't believe that was his name, said Detective Sgt. Curtis Howard.

Francisco Ruben Morales Ramos, 20, has been charged with second-degree murder.

Police said Ramos admitted to being an illegal immigrant. Court documents and Triumph officials said he used the name Edgardo L. Matos at the pork plant.

Concerns arose before Triumph opened over how many illegal immigrants might work at the plant.

St. Joseph officials tied employees' legal status to other job-creation standards in its tax incentive package, requiring regular employment reports and a certification that the company "has not knowingly employed any illegal aliens" and complied with federal law to examine documents to verify employees' legal status.

But the revelation that at least two men used false identification to work at the plant does not mean the company has to change its hiring practices, local and federal authorities said.

"The employers are not expected to be fraudulent document experts," said Carl Rusnok, regional communications director for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. He said ICE would not provide information on any possible investigation of employment practices.

Patt Lilly, Triumph's chief administrative officer, said the company "would always be concerned if individuals are working here who are not who they say they are," but said that the company can't do anything if the worker's documents pass scrutiny.

"People come in and present these documents and information," Lilly said. "If there's no problem with that identification, then we have no way of knowing."

Triumph employs about 2,300 people, about 42 percent of whom are Hispanic, Lilly said.

Although the city asked Triumph to provide an annual employment report by the end of January, the company has not yet complied with that request, said Clint Thompson, director of the city's planning and community development department.

Lilly said he prepared the report Monday and the city should receive it this week.

The city plans to randomly sample employment forms and verify certain wage and benefit benchmarks, Thompson said.

It expects Triumph to do "their due diligence to hire American citizens and not illegal aliens," but the city will leave identification of fraudulent documents and enforcement of the laws to ICE, Thompson said.

Ramos and the victim shared an apartment. The man who died had lived in California and Sioux City, Iowa, before moving to St. Joseph six months ago, said police Cmdr. Charlie Robison.

Language barriers have hampered the investigation, Howard said.


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Information from: St. Joseph News-Press, http://www.stjoenews-press.com





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