Plea deal in works for Glen Ellyn kidnapping suspect
Prosecutors say a plea deal is in the works for the first of three men accused in the 2016 kidnapping and armed robbery of a 21-year-old Wheaton College student that began outside a Glen Ellyn coffee shop.
According to the deal, Abeet Ramos, 20, of South Elgin, will plead guilty to armed robbery and testify against co-defendant Jeremy Jones, 24, in any trial in exchange for a 15-year prison sentence. The deal and the sentence are expected to be imposed July 12.
Ramos has been held on $3 million bail since his arrest Sept. 2, 2016.
Ramos was the first of three suspects arrested and charged in the case. Jones and his 17-year-old brother, who was later shot and killed, were charged later.
Authorities said the victim left the coffee shop on the 500 block of Crescent Boulevard around 9:50 a.m. Aug. 26, 2016, and was walking north on Forest Avenue between Cottage Avenue and Hawthorne Boulevard when he was charged by Jones and the teen. Jones grabbed him by the shirt, threatened to shoot him and forced him into the back seat of a small SUV that Ramos was driving, authorities said.
The three took the victim's Colorado Rockies baseball hat, his wallet and his iPhone, forcing him to remove the pass code and tracking device, authorities said. They then drove him to a bank along Roosevelt Road and forced him to withdraw $1,100 from an ATM, authorities said.
The trio then drove the victim to Chicago, where they made more ATM stops, forcing him to withdraw $200 at one and $300 at the other, authorities said.
The trio kept him in custody, forcing him at gunpoint down on the floor in the back of the SUV, until around 11:30 a.m. when they let him loose in Chicago, gave him his iPhone and $20, and drove away, authorities said. He immediately ran inside a building and called police.
Jones is charged with armed robbery, aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping and armed violence in the case. He's also charged with disorderly conduct and intimidation since he's been in jail on $3.7 million bail.