Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Man pleads guilty to restaurant shooting
Marco Ramirez also admits role in recruiting minor to join criminal gang
FAYETTEVILLE — A Springdale man pleaded guilty Monday in Washington County Circuit Court to helping solicit a minor to join a gang and to shooting at a restaurant in Fayetteville last year.
Marco Antonio Ramirez, 21, was arrested Oct. 5 and charged with being an accomplice to soliciting or recruiting a minor to join or to remain a member of a criminal gang, organization or enterprise.
Ramirez pleaded guilty to the gang recruiting charge along with unrelated charges of committing a terroristic act, fleeing in vehicle and fleeing on foot in a deal with prosecutors.
The terroristic act charge was in connection with shooting at a McDonald’s restaurant on Joyce Boulevard in Fayetteville on April 2, 2022, according to prosecutors.
Circuit Judge Joanna Taylor sentenced Ramirez to a total of 20 years at the Arkansas Department of Corrections with 10 years suspended.
Charges of having a firearm on school property, three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and aggravated assault were dropped as part of the plea bargain.
Ramirez had been set for trial today.
“On or between April 1, 2023, and April 30, 2023, the defendant participated in beating a juvenile with his fists as part of a gang initiation ritual,” according to court documents.
Ramirez was one of several people arrested after the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the Springdale Police Department Crime Suppression Unit and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force investigated the Savage Locos street gang in May 2023. Detectives learned of the gang’s juvenile recruitment through Springdale schools, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.
Ramirez is the brother of Rogelio Angel Ramirez, 29, who was arrested in July and charged with accomplice to soliciting or recruiting a minor to join or to remain a member of a criminal gang, organization or enterprise and simultaneous possession of drugs and a firearm. Rogelio Ramirez is the leader of
or holds a leadership position within Savage Locos, according to authorities.
Rogelio Ramirez pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Aug. 28 and has a June 4 court date before Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay. He is being held at the Washington County jail in lieu of $100,000 bond. He is also charged in an unrelated case with simultaneous possession of drugs and a firearm, which has an additional $100,000 bond.
An affidavit says police found a video of a gang ritual while searching Rogelio Ramirez’s phone.
The video depicted Marco Ramirez and another person “brutally attacking a juvenile with their fists in a backyard in Springdale,” court documents said.
Another man, Sebastian Martinez, 21, of Springdale pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to soliciting or recruiting a minor to join or to remain a member of a criminal gang, organization or enterprise on Friday and was sentenced to six years at the Arkansas Department of Corrections with three years suspended.
A former employee with the Washington County Juvenile Detention Center was accused of providing Rogelio Ramirez with information about detainees, a misdemeanor, and fired.