A key player in a national check fraud ring has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for his role in passing fraudulent checks.
The ring used two shells corporations – Mount Rocky Logistics and Expo Banquet – to pass fake checks written for less than $500 at businesses in Aspen, Carbondale, Delta, Durango, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, Montrose, Rifle and Olathe.
Salvador Ramirez, 23, was sentenced in Mesa County to 11 years and three months to the Colorado Department of Corrections. He was a recruiter, driver and check passer for the ring.
In February, Ramirez pleaded guilty to violating the Colorado Organized Crime Act; theft and forgery.
Ramirez’s codefendant, Jorge Martinez Gomez, 28, was sentenced to eight years in prison in May 2010; and Veronica Ruiz Ayala, 35, was sentenced in April 2010 to six years in the Department of Corrections.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
