Key West’s city hall was reeling on Wednesday, April 16, following the indictment and arrests the evening before of three top city officials.
City attorney Ron Ramsingh; his brother Raj Ramsingh, who is the city’s chief building official, and code compliance director Jim Young were indicted for tampering with evidence by deleting text messages ahead of a pending investigation by the state attorney’s office.
The men were arrested and taken to jail the evening of Tuesday, April 15. Each is charged with a third-degree felony of tampering with evidence. Ron Ramsingh faces two additional charges for allegedly illegally intercepting electronic communication and allegedly disclosing that illegally obtained information. All men posted bond and were released from jail.
The afternoon after their arrests, Key West city manager Brian L. Barroso placed Raj Ramsingh and Jim Young on paid administrative leave pending their arraignments, said city spokeswoman Alyson Crean, who added that such a move is part of a process and protocol that acknowledges the men are innocent until proven guilty. Crean also said that the city’s building and code compliance departments are staffed, operational and continuing to serve the residents of Key West.
Their arraignments are scheduled for Thursday, April 24 in front of Judge Mark Jones.
City attorney Ron Ramsingh’s employment situation is a bit different, as he is one of three charter employees in the city, along with the city manager and city clerk. Those charter employees are hired by and work directly for the city commission, rather than the city manager, who oversees all other city workers, including Raj Ramsingh and Young.
Key West Mayor Dee Dee Henriquez on Wednesday called a special city commission meeting for Monday, April 21 at 5 p.m. to discuss attorney Ron Ramsingh’s employment contract, Crean said.
On Wednesday morning, April 16, Ron Ramsingh’s defense attorney, Donald Barrett, submitted a written plea of Not Guilty to the court, waiving his client’s right to a formal arraignment and demanded a jury trial on behalf of his client.
Additional court documents are still in the process of being posted to the clerk of court’s website and were listed as “pending” as of Wednesday afternoon, April 16.
“This investigation is ongoing,” Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward told the Keys Weekly Tuesday evening, April 15, just 30 minutes after the three men were taken into custody.
Bond was set at $25,000 for Raj Ramsingh and Jim Young, and $75,000 for Ron Ramsingh given the two additional charges. If convicted, each defendant faces up to five years in state prison for each count. The charges may also carry serious professional consequences, including potential disbarment and removal from public office, according to the state attorney’s office.
The indictments and arrests were the results of a “months-long joint investigation conducted by the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office in close partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” states a press release from the state attorney’s office. “The indictments stem from allegations that the three officials attempted to obstruct an ongoing law enforcement investigation by tampering with physical evidence, specifically text message communications sent and received during June 2024.”
The indictments state that between Aug. 23 and Sept. 16, 2024, the two Ramsingh brothers and Young “did alter, destroy, conceal or remove text messages” that they had sent among themselves in June 2024 “knowing that an investigation was pending or about to be instituted.”
The indictments state that Ron Ramsingh in May 2024 allegedly intercepted a Zoom conference call without prior consent of the other participant. The indictment further states that a day later, Ron Ramsingh “intentionally disclosed the contents” of that Zoom video to another individual.
The deleted text messages, which were sent among the three men between June 1 and June 28, 2024, coincide with the timing of the contentious firing of former city manager Al Childress, which occurred just days after Childress had officially reprimanded chief building official Raj Ramsingh for legally questionable actions he had taken within the building department.
Days before Childress filed disciplinary action against Raj Ramsingh, his role and actions in the city’s building department had been criticized in a 55-page investigation and review by planning consultants from the Corradino Group.
Corradino’s review revealed that Raj Ramsingh reportedly approved scores of development applications and permits without review or approval from the planning department, which is the department tasked with approving or denying permits, development applications and variances. The report stated that Raj Ramsingh also had issued variances that had previously been denied by the planning department and issued permits without requiring development plans.
Ward told the Keys Weekly on Tuesday evening that the investigation and subsequent indictments stemmed from the Corradino Group’s review of Raj Ramsingh’s actions in the building department, the contentious firing of Childress and the text messages that were exchanged among city employees and elected commissioners prior to the vote to fire Childress.
Stay tuned to keysweekly.com as this story continues.
