Federal Jury Convicts Fugitive in 2018 Kidnapping and Carjacking After Seven Years on the Run

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal jury convicted Jose Ramirez for his role in the brutal 2018 kidnapping and carjacking of his former employer in Placitas, New Mexico, following a five-day trial and approximately three hours of deliberation. The conviction comes after Ramirez evaded capture for seven years before being apprehended by law enforcement in California.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Jose Ramirez, 37, orchestrated the violent attack on July 26, 2018. A day before the incident, Ramirez met with his co-defendants in Albuquerque to recruit them for what he described as a job to “get back at his boss for firing him” and “take his boss for all he had.” At the time of the crime, Ramirez was under court supervision and wearing a GPS ankle monitoring bracelet. Hours before the kidnapping, Ramirez cut off his ankle monitor.

In the early morning hours of July 26, 2018, Ramirez and his co-defendant ambushed the victim as he left his Placitas residence. Ramirez placed the victim in a headlock with a knife to his throat while his co-defendant pistol-whipped him multiple times in the face. The victim was bound, placed in the bed of his own Ford Ranger truck, and driven to a remote compound on Pajarito Mesa. There, Ramirez held the victim captive in a shed for approximately 15 hours while attempting to extort ransom money from the victim’s family and force wire transfers to Mexico.

Late that evening, the victim was dropped off in southwest Albuquerque. He walked to a nearby gas station and asked the clerk to call 911. Following the crime, Ramirez fled and evaded capture for seven years before being arrested by law enforcement in California for drug possession.

Ramirez was convicted of conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping, conspiracy to carjack, carjacking, using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and extortion. Following the verdict, the Court ordered that Ramirez remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled. At sentencing, Ramirez faces no less than five years and up to life in prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

The FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office, Albuquerque Police Department and New Mexico Corrections Department Probation and Parole. Assistant United States Attorneys Jack E. Burkhead and Sarah Mease are prosecuting the case.