Man guilty in two rapes [Corrected]
A jury on Wednesday found a Costa Mesa man guilty of raping two victims, one of them a minor he worked with at a Fountain Valley dry cleaners.
Jurors at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana convicted Jaime Zamora Ramirez, 42, of two felony counts of forcible rape with sentencing enhancement for raping multiple victims.
Zamora Ramirez raped a female friend in her apartment in 2008. He also raped a 17-year-old girl, a co-worker at First Class Cleaners in Fountain Valley, after asking her to come by his place to help with “special deliveries,” prosecutors said.
After luring the girl into a room under the pretense of getting paperwork, Zamora Ramirez locked the door and raped her, prosecutors said.
The Orange County district attorney’s office said that Zamora Ramirez threatened to expose the girl’s status as an undocumented immigrant if she reported the rape.
The first incident occurred when Zamora Ramirez went to a friend’s house and asked for a beer. Zamora Ramirez then returned to the woman’s house and forced her on a bed and raped her.
The second incident happened when Zamora Ramirez asked that a female employee from First Class Cleaners come by to pick up paperwork. Another employee from the business dropped the girl off at Zamora Ramirez’s Costa Mesa home, according to prosecutors.
After the rape, the 17-year-old victim told co-workers, who later told Costa Mesa police, according to the D.A.’s office.
Zamora Ramirez faces between 140 years in prison to life in prison.
FOR THE RECORD:
An earlier press release from the Orange County district attorney’s office listed Jaime Zamora Ramirez’ possible sentencing as eight years and eight months in prison. Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker said Thursday he faces between 140 years and life in prison. The eight years and eight months applied to one victim, she said.
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