An Atlanta man has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for his involvement in the 2002 fatal drive-by shooting of a rival gang member in Gwinnett County, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Julio “Sleepy” Ramos, 41, was convicted of conspiracy to commit racketeering in November 2017 and sentenced on Oct. 24, 2018. He had been charged with murder and racketeering activity, but those charges were dropped.
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Ramos became a member of the Brownside Locos gang in 2001, according to the Justice Department. The gang awarded “status” to members for committing acts of violence against rival gang members, according to a department release.
On Oct. 27, 2002, Ramos was in a van with five other gang members when someone spotted 20-year-old Aldo Vallejo in a car in the parking lot of Buford Highway shopping center Plaza Fiesta. Vallejo was allegedly a member of a rival gang, the Justice Department said.
The van full of Brownside Locos, including Ramos, pursued Vallejo’s car. Vallejo tried to get away from the van, driving evasively, the department said. The two vehicles ended up at an access road near Interstate 85 North and Sugarloaf Parkway in Gwinnett County. Members of the vehicles exchanged gunfire. Vallejo was shot and crashed his car on the side of the road. He died two days later from the gunshot injuries.
Ramos was sentenced Wednesday to six years and six months in federal prison, plus three years of supervised released. As a Mexican citizen, Ramos will be deported after his prison sentence is complete.
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