At Sentencing, Man Seeks Permission to Leave the U.S.

SANTA ANA —  Saying he felt betrayed by law enforcement in this country, Nicolas Esteban begged to be returned to his native Mexico rather than serve 27 years to life for second-degree murder in the United States.

“I promise I will never step foot in this country again,” he told Superior Court Judge Daniel J. Didier through an interpreter at his sentencing on Friday.

It wasn’t clear whether Esteban was asking to be freed in Mexico or sent there to serve his sentence.

Esteban, 49, was convicted in September of killing one neighbor and injuring two others after an altercation erupted into a gun battle.

His attorney, Martin Molina, said the neighborhood dispute escalated because police never responded to Esteban’s complaints that his neighbors were harassing his family.

“He feels betrayed by the system,” Molina said. “He felt the police were not going to solve the problem, so he had to take matters into his own hands.”

The fatal feud began with a traffic incident involving a boyfriend of one of Esteban’s daughters and neighbor Hector Ramos. The dispute eventually led to the boyfriend beating Ramos.

Defense attorneys said that Hector Ramos and his brother Rene vowed to get even and began a “terror campaign” against the Esteban family. It culminated 10 days after the initial incident when Rene Ramos agreed to meet Esteban in the street for a fistfight.

Esteban, however, brought an automatic handgun and fired 13 shots. One killed George Ramos, who was in the driveway. A fleeing Rene Ramos was shot in the buttocks. Their mother, Delores Ramos, was shot in the head and arm.

Jurors agreed that the constant tormenting by the Ramos brothers pushed Esteban to violence but that it was no excuse for murder.

Esteban has lived in the United States for 30 years and is a permanent resident. He has no prior criminal record. Molina said the Immigration and Naturalization Service can only consider his request to be returned to Mexico after he has completed his sentence.