South Lake Tahoe man sentenced to 183-years to life for brutal attack
Submitted by paula on Tue, 01/30/2018 - 12:17pm
A former motel maintenance worker at a South Lake Tahoe motel has been sentenced to 183 years to life for the brutal sexual assault of a 22-year-old Macedonian exchange student in 2015.
Manuel Ovidio Ramos-Munoz was found guilty in November, 2017 on seven felony counts, including kidnapping for the purpose of committing a sexual assault, as well as six additional counts and numerous special allegations relating to the subsequent sexual assault of the victim.
He was sentenced by Judge Kenneth Melikian on January 19.
On June 11, 2015, the young woman, who had only been in the country for a little more than a week, was sitting on the front steps of her the the Big Pines Mountain House, talking on the phone when Ramos-Munoz snuck up behind her and put a knife to her throat. Ramos-Munoz, who was 30-years-old at the time, dragged the victim across the street into a dark parking lot, behind large metal containers at the rear of the parking lot. He threatened to kill the terrified victim if she did not remain silent. Once concealed behind the large containers, Ramos-Munoz repeatedly and violently physically and sexually assaulted the victim, causing injuries to her head, face, and body.
An investigation by the South Lake Tahoe Police Department led to the identification, and subsequent arrest of Ramos-Munoz by the morning following the attack.
Before handing down the 183 years to life sentence, Judge Melikian told Ramos-Munoz that, having heard all of the evidence in the case, he was prepared to sentence Ramos-Munoz to the maximum term provided under the law. Judge Melikian called Ramos-Munoz’s actions on June 11, 2015, “beyond reprehensible” and stated that on the day of the crime Ramos-Munoz had “put the victim in hell”, commenting that it was a hell she had probably not yet escaped.
The victim was back in El Dorado County to assist in the trial and subsequent sentencing.
The case was investigated by the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, as well as the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Jamie Pesce and Assistant District Attorney Joseph Alexander, with the assistance of Detective Doug Sentell, Investigator Ken Barber and Victim Witness Advocate Yolanda McGillivray.
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