Vance Collins, a/k/a “Big AK,” and Ramon Ramirez, a/k/a “Obendy,” were found guilty of hiring gang members to murder an individual believed to be having an affair with Ramirez’s wife. Collins was also convicted of possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony. Both were convicted yesterday after a five-day trial before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel.
Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Vance Collins and Ramon Ramirez tried to arrange for a murder. Now, in the first criminal trial in this District since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the defendants stand convicted and will face punishment for their crimes.”
According to the allegations in the Indictment and evidence at trial:
In around 2017, Ramirez learned that his wife was having an affair with another man (the “Victim”). Ramirez enlisted Collins, a high-ranking gang leader, to hire someone to kill the Victim. Collins turned to a member of his gang, who in turn enlisted another gang member, and those two gang members took steps to locate and surveil the Victim, intending to shoot or stab the Victim to death. One night in October 2018, the two hitmen encountered the Victim at the Victim’s home; however, the presence of another person thwarted their plan. One of the hitmen was arrested shortly thereafter, and the Victim was not killed. During his arrest, Collins was found to be in possession of three firearms, including one that he and one of the hitmen had acquired to use in the plot to kill the Victim.
