Prison sentence delayed for Las Vegas man who used sex tapes in extortion
A Las Vegas man who was ordered to serve a 366-day prison term for the sex-tape extortion of a wealthy businessman has been given an additional six months to surrender.
Ernest Ramos, 38, will be allowed to report to prison on March 28, according to an order issued last week by Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro.
His defense lawyer, Kathleen Bliss, asked to delay his Sept. 28 surrender date while she tries to persuade the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to order Navarro to grant Ramos a hearing on his bid to withdraw his guilty plea.
Bliss argued in court papers that “there were overwhelming and substantial outside influences” on his decision to strike a plea deal.
She has an Oct. 13 deadline to file her opening brief with the appeals court in San Francisco.
Ramos, who has a 13-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy and other serious ailments, pleaded guilty in November to using sex tapes to extort $200,000 from the unidentified businessman.
At his sentencing earlier this year, his previous lawyer, Gabriel Grasso, disclosed that Ramos was offered money, just days before he pleaded guilty, to keep the businessman’s identity secret for the rest of his life.
Grasso told Navarro that his client believed the offer was made to pressure him into taking a guilty plea. The lawyer sought probation for Ramos.
Federal prosecutors contended in court papers that Ramos was not offered money but rather an opportunity to avoid being sued.
Prosecutors have gone to great lengths to protect the identity of the businessman.
An FBI complaint identifies the victim only as a married local resident who has two minor children and who is “part-owner of a well-known business” with access to a company jet.
Over a two-year period, the businessman tipped a stripper, who was Ramos’ girlfriend, about $200,000 to dance and have sex with him in a private room at an adult nightclub, the criminal complaint said.
The dancer secretly used her cellphone to videotape herself having sex with the businessman in a hotel room during an October 2014 tryst outside the country, according to the complaint.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter.
