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Retired TPD lieutenant seeks early release from prison

Retired TPD lieutenant seeks early release from prison

Less than two years after former Toledo Police Lt. Frank Ramirez went to prison for obstructing justice, he is asking the court to release him early.

Ramirez, 61, was convicted at trial in 2016 of obstructing justice and tampering with evidence as well as a misdemeanor charge of discharge of a firearm over a roadway. Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Gene Zmuda sentenced him to four years in prison but recently set an Aug. 1 judicial release hearing for the retired police veteran at the request of defense attorney Jon Richardson.

Mr. Richardson said Ramirez has spent considerably more time in prison than his co-defendant, Maytee Vazquez-Clarke, who was released by Judge Zmuda after just nine months behind bars.

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“The guy did over half of his time, and Frank's not a youngster,” Mr. Richardson said. “He's got these medical conditions, and enough’s enough.”

Ramirez retired in 2015 after 31 years with Toledo Police.

Vazquez-Clarke and her husband, John Clarke, were accused of trying to avenge the 2011 murder of their son, Johnny Clarke, by shooting at Tiffany Williams, the last person to speak to their son. They felt she knew more about his murder than she was saying.

Ramirez told Vazquez-Clarke when and where they could find Williams. Vazquez-Clarke then relayed that information to her husband, who went to the location Dec. 26, 2014 and shot at Williams. She was not injured.

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Clarke was sentenced to four years in prison for felonious assault with a firearm specification. Vazquez-Clarke was sentenced to two years for retaliation but was released June, 2017.

On Friday, Micah Ault, an assistant attorney general who helped prosecute Ramirez, filed his opposition to the former police officer’s release. He also asked the court to continue the Aug. 1 hearing because of a prior commitment that he has.

“The state believes that the sentence imposed upon [Ramirez] in this case is an appropriate sentence due to the serious nature of the crime and the fact that [Ramirez] was a public servant when the crime was committed,” Mr. Ault's motion states.

In asking for judicial release, Mr. Richardson said Ramirez had twice been admitted to Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center with heart complications.

Ramirez currently is listed on the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s website as an inmate at the Corrections Medical Center.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.

First Published July 20, 2018, 8:16 p.m.

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Frank Ramirez.
Former Toledo police officer Frank Ramirez, left, leaves Lucas County Common Pleas Court following his sentencing Wednesday, September 7, 2016 in Toledo.  (THE BLADE)  Buy Image
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