A Union City man was sentenced Thursday to 48 months in federal prison for multiple robberies of small stores and gas stations in Santa Clara County and East Bay communities.
Nelson Enrike Ramirez, 41, of Union City, California, was charged in December 2021 with committing robberies in November 2020 of a 7-Eleven convenience store in Campbell and a 7-Eleven in Fremont.
In April, Ramirez pleaded guilty to those two robberies and admitted 21 others.
In his plea agreement, Ramirez described that from May to November 2020, he committed or attempted 23 robberies of small businesses in the East and South Bay areas, including Fremont, Newark, Hayward, Union City, Campbell, Milpitas, Mountain View, Los Altos and Sunnyvale, according to a joint announcement by U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan.
The sentence was handed down in U. S. District Court in Oakland by District Judge Jon S. Tigar.
During the robberies and attempted robberies, Ramirez carried a black rubber replica semiautomatic firearm and brandished it, and sometimes pointed it, at store clerks when demanding money. Prosecutors said Ramirez often apologized to the store employees, stating he needed money because he had a sick child at home – but in his plea agreement he admitted he lied. He does not have a child.
Ramirez detailed two robberies in his plea agreement.
On Nov. 3, 2020, Ramirez entered a 7-Eleven convenience store in Campbell and told the clerk he needed money because his son was sick and insurance would not cover it.
He pulled the black rubber replica firearm out of his pocket and held it at his side. He instructed the clerk to open the register, then walked behind the store’s counter with the clerk. Ramirez took approximately $1,500 from the open register and fled.
Ramirez also described in his plea agreement that three days later, on Nov. 6, 2020, he walked into a 7-Eleven store in Fremont. He told the store clerk he needed a soda. When the clerk helped him, Ramirez pulled the replica firearm out of his pocket and told the clerk he needed money.
He ordered the clerk to walk to the cash register. The clerk opened the register and handed Ramirez approximately $200. Ramirez forced the clerk to open a second cash register, but it was empty. Ramirez then left the store.
In addition to the 48-month sentence, Tigar ordered Ramirez to pay $9,192 in restitution and to serve a three-year period of supervision when he leaves prison. Ramirez was in custody at his sentencing hearing and began serving his sentence immediately.
The prosecution was the result of an investigation by the FBI, the Fremont Police Department, the Union City Police Department, the Newark Police Department, the Hayward Police Department, the Campbell Police Department, the Milpitas Police Department, the Mountain View Police Department, the Los Altos Police Department and the Sunnyvale Police Department.
