Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
A U.S. soldier from Utah has been convicted of conspiracy to commit murder last year in Baghdad, Iraq. Now he faces 7 months in prison.
The soldier is 23-year-old Belmor Ramos of Clearfield. He graduated from Clearfield High School a few years ago, where he was a member of the Junior ROTC program. In fact, when he was training at Camp Williams back then, KSL did a story on the program, and we just happened to interview him.
Every year Camp Williams holds a mini boot camp for high school students entering the Army. Ramos was among the students who attended in 2003. We interviewed him and asked him what the Army meant to him. Back then he told us, "I'm a better person now. I know more about how to get along with other people and manage to get things done, also."
Today Ramos was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. A military judge sentenced him to 7 months in prison for his part in the killings of four Iraqi citizens who were blindfolded, shot in the head then dumped in a Baghdad canal.
Although Ramos didn't shoot the men, he admitted he took part in the planning by standing guard while three other soldiers shot them. During his court martial Ramos told the judge, "I wanted them dead. I had no legal justification or excuse to do this."
His former ROTC instructor at Clearfield High, Christopher Williams, told the Davis County school's spokesperson that Ramos' parents moved him to Clearfield from Salt Lake City when he was in 10th grade. "Part of the reason why they moved is to get away from some gang activity that apparently he was involved in," he said.
The move to Clearfield worked, and instead of keeping with his gang, Ramos spoke to others about staying away from them. "He was very open about that. He spoke to student groups, trying to encourage them to not join gangs," Williams said.
Ramos was also drill team and cadet commander during his senior year at Clearfield High.
His family moved to the U.S. from Chile when he was 10. Two years ago he became an American citizen. Now he could lose his citizenship and be deported.
As part of his plea deal, Ramos will testify against the three other soldiers, who are charged with premeditated murder.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
