Framed By Her Ex: The Harrowing Tale of Seemona Sumasar
In March 2009, Seemona Sumasar filed sexual assault charges against her ex- boyfriend. In retaliation, he orchestrated a plan to frame her for a series of armed robberies
Background
Born in Guyana, Seemona Sumasar immigrated to Queens, New York, with her family at age 11. The oldest of three children, Seemona, was inspired by her father’s hard-working entrepreneurial spirit. He worked several jobs to provide a good life for his family.
Seemona pursued a career in finance. After graduating from Queens College, she secured a position as a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley on Wall Street.
In March 2006, Seemona opened the Golden Krust Caribbean bakery franchise in Queens. In addition to her work at Morgan Stanley, she dedicated her afternoons and evenings to managing the restaurant. As a single mother, she was also deeply committed to raising her young daughter, striving to provide a stable and nurturing environment.
Although her days were long and challenging, she took pride in her accomplishments and the secure future she was creating for her daughter.
Relationship with Jerry Ramrattan
In mid-2006, Seemona met Jerry Ramrattan, who was a regular at her restaurant. At first, he seemed charming and helpful. He presented himself as a private investigator for the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office and claimed to own a security company.
Jerry liked to brag about having connections in the justice system and seemed to always talk about cases he was involved in.
The two soon began a relationship, and Ramrattan moved into the basement of Seemona's home in Far Rockaway, Queens. Eventually, however, Seemona discovered that Ramrattan had lied about several aspects of his life, including being married with three children, contrary to his claim of being divorced with one child.
As time passed, the relationship turned sour. According to reports, Ramrattan became controlling and abusive. He was angry, jealous, and manipulative. As a result, Seemona ended the relationship in 2008.
Despite their breakup, Ramrattan continued to reside in her basement, initially requesting to stay for two weeks but ultimately remaining for several months. During this period, Seemona observed Ramrattan carrying a gun and possessing a bulletproof vest and a police department shield, raising concerns about his behavior.
Assault on Seemona
On March 8, 2009, the situation escalated dramatically. Seemona reported to the police that Ramrattan ambushed her on the back stairs outside her apartment, restrained her with duct tape, and dragged her into the basement apartment.
For eight to nine hours, he held her captive, threatened her with a gun, and raped her. After the assault, he commanded her not to report the incident. However, Seemona filed a police report and pressed charges, determined to hold him accountable.
Threats and Intimidation
After Seemona Sumasar reported the assault in March 2009, Ramrattan was arrested and charged with rape, and a Queens grand jury indicted him. However, after his release on bail, Ramrattan began a campaign of harassment aimed at coercing Seemona into dropping the charges.
He violated a restraining order by contacting her directly and sending friends and relatives to her restaurant to pressure her into dropping the charges.
According to Seemona, he told her he would make her “pay” for accusing him and warned her that he had connections in the police department who would “take care of things.” City health and buildings inspectors also showed up at her restaurant to investigate anonymous complaints, which she believed were filed by Ramrattan. But she didn't back down. Despite the fear and pressure, Seemona refused to withdraw her complaint.
Framed
When these tactics failed, Ramrattan escalated his efforts. He orchestrated an elaborate scheme to frame Seemona for a series of armed robberies. Between March and May 2010, three individuals, including Terrell Lovell, Luz Johnson, and an anonymous caller, reported to police that they had been robbed at gunpoint by a man and a woman impersonating police officers.
Each described the female assailant as Indian-looking and provided consistent details, including the use of a gray Jeep Cherokee. In one instance, Johnson provided a whole license plate number, which police traced to a vehicle associated with Sumasar.
All three "victims" identified her in the photo lineups. Then, in May 2010, Seemona was arrested by Nassau County police. She was charged with multiple counts of armed robbery and impersonating a police officer.
Her bail was set at $1 million and was later reduced to $500,000. However, with no way to post it, she was locked up and spent nearly seven months in jail.
Locked Up
The time she spent behind bars was brutal. She was held at Rikers Island, one of the country’s most notorious jails. During her incarceration, Seemona was separated from her 13-year-old daughter, Chiara McDonald, who was in the care of Seemona’s mother.
Her business, the Golden Krust Caribbean bakery in Queens, which she had proudly built, soon fell apart. With nobody there to manage the day-to-day operations, the restaurant shut down. Additionally, the house she had bought with years of hard work was on the brink of foreclosure.
Financial ruin came fast, but the emotional toll ran deeper. Other inmates believed she was a violent criminal, and some jail staff treated her harshly. She often cried in her cell, but tried to stay strong for her daughter, knowing that the man who had raped her was also the one who had put her in that hellish situation, and he was walking free.
She stated, "They acted like I'm just trying to blame somebody else for something I did. They did not want to look into it at all."
As Seemona Sumasar languished in jail, inconsistencies in the case against her began to emerge. Law enforcement initially overlooked critical evidence that could have exonerated her.
Seemona's defense team presented cell phone records and surveillance footage that placed her miles away from the alleged crime scenes at the times the incidents supposedly occurred. During one alleged robbery, she was captured on casino surveillance cameras in Connecticut, a fact that should have cleared her.
Yet, these alibis were initially dismissed by the investigators.
Release from Jail
Inside the Queens District Attorney’s office, some prosecutors began having doubts. The robbery victims’ stories were almost too coordinated, too similar in language and detail. Even more suspicious was how they all identified Seemona in photo lineups with unusual confidence, despite minimal interaction with the supposed robber.
The turning point came when Jerry Ramrattan's new girlfriend approached the Nassau County District Attorney's office with a startling revelation. She disclosed that Ramrattan had orchestrated the entire scheme by coaching individuals to pose as victims of fabricated robberies to frame Seemona and discredit her rape allegation against him.
Following these revelations, the DA’s office began to investigate more thoroughly. When confronted, both Lovell and Johnson confessed to their perjury, admitting that Ramrattan had promised them money in exchange for their false statements.
With this new evidence, the Nassau County District Attorney's office dropped all charges against Seemona. After spending more than seven months in jail, she was finally released on December 2, 2010. Her name was cleared, but her life had been devastated.
Exoneration
In November 2011, a Queens jury found Ramrattan guilty of multiple charges, including first-degree rape, perjury, conspiracy, witness tampering, and falsely reporting incidents.
The jury found that he had raped Seemona in March 2009 and then attempted to undermine her credibility by framing her for crimes she did not commit. On January 4, 2012, Justice Richard Buchter sentenced him to 27 and a half to 32 years in prison; his earliest possible release date would be April 2032.
Judge Buchter described Ramrattan as a "diabolical conniver and sinister manipulator" who had "shamelessly exploited the criminal justice system."
The accomplices who aided Ramrattan in his scheme were also held accountable. Terrell Lovell and Luz Johnson, who had falsely reported being victims of armed robberies, were arrested and charged with perjury. They were each sentenced to six months in jail, followed by four years of probation.
Despite the trauma and losses she suffered, including the closure of her business and the foreclosure of her home, Seemona remained resilient. Reflecting on her ordeal, she stated,
"Jerry told so many lies, and I was imprisoned because authorities had decided to believe him. But I am not bitter. The truth won out in the end.”
Aftermath
Following her release in December 2010 and Jerry Ramrattan’s conviction in 2011, Seemona Sumasar began the difficult process of rebuilding her life and holding those who failed her accountable.
In October 2011, she and her teenage daughter, Chiara McDonald, filed a civil lawsuit against the city of New York and Nassau County, alleging false arrest, malicious prosecution, and violations of their civil rights. Her legal team argued that law enforcement had ignored clear evidence of her innocence, including alibi-confirming surveillance footage and cell phone data.
In 2017, Nassau County agreed to a $2 million settlement to resolve the lawsuit filed by Seemona and her daughter. While the settlement provided some financial relief, Seemona emphasized that her primary goal was to hold the system accountable and to prevent similar injustices from happening to others.
Seemona's ordeal drew public attention and sparked discussions about the need for reforms within the criminal justice system. The public and media widely criticized the conduct of both the police and the district attorneys involved in the case. Major outlets like The New York Times and ABC News reported on the disturbing failures in due process.
Her case led to calls for reform in how criminal accusations are investigated, especially in cases involving personal relationships and witness credibility. Advocacy groups cited her story as a textbook example of why reforms were needed in bail practices, prosecutorial accountability, and the use of jailhouse informants.
Sources:
Lowe , Lindsay. “A Woman’s Ex Framed Her for Robbery and Sent Her to Prison. Here’s How She Got Free.” TODAY.Com, 29 Aug. 2024, www.today.com/popculture/tv/worst-ex-ever-jerry-ramrattan-now-rcna168563.
Mehrotra, Kriti. “Seemona Sumasar: Where Is the Survivor Now?” The Cinemaholic, 29 Aug. 2024, thecinemaholic.com/seemona-sumasar/.
Martinez, Edecio. “NY Woman Seemona Sumasar Says Ex-Boyfriend Raped Her, Then Framed Her.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 9 Dec. 2010, www.cbsnews.com/news/ny-woman-seemona-sumasar-says-ex-boyfriend-raped-her-then-framed-her/.