The man who admitted in June to hiring a hit man to stab his pregnant ex-girlfriend told a judge Thursday that he now wants to take his guilty plea back.
Alexei Ramey, 21, also said his relationship with his attorney has broken down and requested that a new one be appointed.
Acting Schenectady County Court Judge Richard Giardino agreed to appoint a new attorney but also stressed that there is no guarantee that he will allow Ramey to take his plea back.
The judge also stressed to Ramey that if he did get to take his plea back, he could face much more prison time than the 31⁄2 to 10 years he faces under the plea bargain he accepted. The original charges in his indictment — attempted forcible abortion and conspiracy to commit depraved indifference murder, on the theory that the woman likely would have died in the planned attack on her fetus — carried a sentence of up to 25 years in state prison.
“Be aware that you might win the battle, but you might lose the war,” Giardino told Ramey. “Do you understand that saying?”
Ramey indicated that he did.
Ramey admitted in June that he hired a hit man to stab the pregnant Ashlie Corp in September 2010 in a bid to end her pregnancy.
He pleaded guilty to a felony attempted assault count in return for a sentence of up to 10 years in state prison.
Ramey was to be sentenced in the case Thursday.
In court Thursday, he argued that he doesn’t understand how he could be convicted of attempting to assault someone who wasn’t present. He said he wasn’t aware of exactly what attempted assault was.
Ramey also said that he now knows the baby wasn’t his. In court in June, he admitted to Giardino that he hired the hit man because he did not want to pay child support for the baby, prosecutors said.
Ramey, of Turner Avenue, was arrested in September 2010 after a state police undercover operation, begun on a tip that Ramey was looking to hire someone to stab Corp.
An undercover trooper contacted Ramey, and discussions began. The two sides ultimately agreed that Ramey would pay a sum of $500 cash and hand over a pressure washer. The entire transaction was recorded, providing Ramey’s own words as evidence.
He was arrested shortly after delivering payment. State police have said the plot did not come close to being carried out.
Corp gave birth to Sophia Corp in October. Family members have said baby Sophia is doing well.
Ramey is now due back in court in November, at which time Giardino could rule on any formal motion to allow him to take back his plea.
If the judge allows the plea to stand, he could impose a sentence at that time.
Ramey was represented in the case by attorney Michael Brosnan. The case is being prosecuted by John Healy.
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