The arrest of five Iraqi refugees in Colorado Springs in 2012 is a story we reported at the time (here, and here I was looking for an update). I had wondered what happened to the five accused of raping an unconscious woman they somehow got to their apartment.
Perhaps the most stunning thing about the case is that an American military man helped at least one of the accused get into the US and wrote a book about it! The Special Immigrant Visa program, designed to help those who ‘helped’ Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan get into the US more easily, may well have been the vehicle for Jasim Mohammed Hasin Ramadon to become a “new American.”
Now thanks to reader Jewell, here is an update on the case from The Gazette:
Is he responsible for a horrific rape that nearly killed a Colorado Springs woman – or a patsy tapped by his co-defendants to shoulder the blame?
An El Paso County jury on Wednesday heard clashing portrayals of Jasim Mohammed Hasin Ramadon, a 21-year-old Iraqi immigrant accused of “shoving” his hand into the rectum of a semiconscious woman, causing severe internal bleeding.
Charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, Ramadon – also known as Jay Hendrix – could face up to the rest of his life in prison if convicted.
His trial, which is expected to last two weeks, comes after an 11-month delay during which the case was held up as the Colorado Supreme Court considered an evidentiary dispute between prosecutors and defense attorneys.
Charged in the July 2012 assault at a west Colorado Springs apartment complex were Ramadon and four other Iraqi immigrants, all of whom were brought to the United States with the help of military members after assisting troops in Iraq.
One co-defendant, Sarmad Fadhi “Levi” Mohammed, 26, is serving 16 years to life in prison after a jury convicted him last year of placing his penis in the woman’s mouth. Three others were accused of lying to police about what they knew of the rape and ended up with misdemeanor convictions.
As we suggested with the Utah refugee rape/murder trial that just concluded, maybe lawmakers in Washington should be insisting that the US State Department help defray the enormous cost to local tax payers when “refugees” they admit to the US commit crimes. These trials and decades of incarceration cost the “welcoming” state a lot of money in the end.
And, also like the Utah case, this dreadful story will not reach the mainstream media outside the state especially as that same media is now working hard to get those Syrian Muslims into the US.
Just as an endnote if you didn’t have time to revisit our first post on the arrest, here is what we learned:
Ramadon was featured in “A Soldier’s Promise,” a combat memoir by Army First Sgt. Daniel Hendrex published in 2009 . Hendrex met the 14-year-old Ramadon while deployed to Husaybah, a town in Al Anbar Province in Iraq , according to book reviews on Amazon. According to reviews, Ramadon encountered Hendrex’s soldiers in December 2003, and pleaded with them to arrest him in exchange for key information about local insurgents. The book chronicles Ramadon’s relationship with Hendrex’s unit, of which he became an intricate part, ultimately earning the nickname Steve-O, the review reads. Later, in exchange for his services, Hendrex helped Ramadon immigrate to the United States.
