SEATTLE — A 25-year-old Mexican national was sentenced in Seattle on Friday after he was caught driving a stolen car with a gun inside.
Arturo Ramirez was sentenced to two years in prison for unlawful possession of a firearm, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
Ramirez was arrested by Seattle officers in December 2024 after he was pulled over following a brief police chase in South Seattle. Law enforcement discovered Ramirez was driving a stolen car, and police later found a gun in the vehicle. He was the only person in the car.
“Terrorizing a community is not something we can tolerate,” U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez said at the sentencing hearing, according to the attorney’s office.
Ramirez was brought to the U.S. from Mexico as an infant, according to records filed in the case. He had multiple run-ins with the law as a juvenile and adult.
Mexican national prohibited from possessing guns due to previous conviction
The attorney’s office noted Ramirez is prohibited from possessing firearms due to a previous conviction for attempted robbery. In February 2023, he was sentenced to more than 57 months in prison.
“His convictions run the gamut from violent robberies and firearm offenses to stolen cars, escapes, thefts, and eluding,” prosecutors wrote to the court in asking for a 37-month sentence. “He spent a considerable amount of his youth detained in juvenile facilities. If facing criminal justice system consequences served as a deterrent for the defendant, he would not be facing deportation to a country in which he has not resided since infancy.”
Ramirez likely will be referred to removal proceedings after prison, according to the attorney’s office.
Martinez stressed that if Ramirez returned to the U.S., he would face increasingly longer sentences.
This story was originally posted to MyNorthwest.com