SALON

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 11:45 PM UTC

Man guilty in 2008 San Francisco traffic killings

By

Topics: From the Wires,

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A jury convicted an illegal immigrant Wednesday of fatally shooting a father and two of his sons in traffic in a case that drew attention to San Francisco’s controversial sanctuary policy.

Jurors found Edwin Ramos, 25, guilty of three counts of first-degree murder as well as a single count of attempted murder.

Under the sanctuary policy, Ramos had never been turned over for deportation despite previous run-ins with the law as a juvenile.

Prosecutors said Ramos opened fire on a car carrying 48-year-old Tony Bologna and his three sons — Michael, Matthew and Andrew — in June 2008.

They said Ramos was seeking revenge for the shooting of a fellow MS-13 gang member earlier in the day.

The jury reached the verdict after a week of deliberations. When it was read, Danielle Bologna, Tony’s wife and the mother of their three sons, began sobbing.

Several families and friends cheered and cried openly as they heard the decision. Some wore white T-shirts that read “Finally, Justice is Served for the Bologna Family.”

Andrew Bologna, the only survivor of the attack, testified during Ramos’ trial, identifying him as the gunman.

Ramos maintained he was only the driver of the car and didn’t know his passenger, Wilfredo Reyes, would start shooting. Reyes has not been located.

Under the sanctuary policy, illegal immigrants charged with crimes as minors were not handed over to federal immigration officials but instead flown home or housed in California at the city’s expense. The city has since closed that loophole.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments are not enabled for this story.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations