One woman said she felt so much shame after being raped in February 2017 by her Uber driver that she considered killing herself countless times.
A second woman -- raped by the same man, who that time was posing as an Uber driver when he picked her up outside a Ballard bar in December -- said she experienced crippling fear in the aftermath of her attack and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The two women, who were raped by Israel Ramos Islas more than two years apart, called the 34-year-old Tukwila man a predator who attacked vulnerable, intoxicated women who were simply looking for a safe ride home. They said they endured sexual-assault exams and questioning by detectives so Ramos Islas wouldn't be able to hurt any more women.
King County Superior Court Judge John Ruhl thanked the women for speaking out in court Friday and commended their courage in coming forward before sentencing Ramos Islas to just over 11 years in prison, the high end of the standard sentencing range.
The Seattle Times does not typically identify victims of sexual assault.
Ramos Islas was initially charged with first-degree rape following his arrest in April after he was identified as a fake Uber driver who had picked up an intoxicated woman outside a Ballard bar in December. He parked in a church parking lot in White Center, attacked the woman in the backseat of his car, then drove her home to West Seattle. Her doorbell camera captured footage of Ramos Islas handing the woman her phone and keys, court records say.
The victim described waking up the next morning and finding the torn clothing she had worn the night before. She went to the hospital for a sexual-assault exam.
"I felt dirty and violated as a nurse took samples from my body," she said, adding that in the days that followed, her work performance dropped, she avoided going to Ballard and would feel her heart race anytime she saw a car resembling the one driven by Ramos Islas that night. "I was filled with daily worry we wouldn't catch this man and he'd be out there hurting other women."
In April, after the video footage from the victim's doorbell camera was made public, Ramos Islas and his wife showed up at the victim's apartment to confront her, the woman recalled. She hid in her bedroom and called police while her roommates dealt with the couple at their door. Ramos Islas was arrested in Kent the next day.
"If it wasn't me he picked up, it would've been another helpless woman he would've went for," the woman said in court. "You are done hurting other women ... You are a deceitful predator and you will prey no more."
The 2017 rape victim told Ruhl that after more than two years, she didn't think she'd ever see justice in her case. But after the footage from the December rape was made public, she called police and said she recognized her rapist's "syrupy voice."
According to court records, the woman drank several glasses of wine before getting an Uber to take her from Capitol Hill to her apartment in Seattle's Central District. Her driver followed her inside and attacked her. At the time, Ramos Islas was a driver for Uber, the records say.
Initially, male DNA swabbed from her body did not result in a "hit" in the Combined DNA Index System, a national database of felons' DNA profiles operated by the FBI. When her rape kit was retested in April following the 2018 rape, the male DNA was matched to Ramos Islas.
"I did not consent. I did not consent," the woman said in court Friday. "Nothing made me more desperate to die than that rape."
Now married and working in medicine, the woman swore she would never think of Ramos Islas again.
"Today, I have no shame, no guilt," she said. "The world is a violent place for women and that's because of men like you. You raped until you could rape no more. You're a predator, Israel."
Ramos Islas, who pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree rape earlier this month, apologized for the damage he caused the victims but said God had forgiven him and that he planned to use his prison time to become a better man.
He was sentenced Friday to 11 1/3 years in prison, with credit for the roughly 175 days he has already spent in jail. Because he has been convicted of sex crimes, Ramos Islas' sentence is an indeterminate one, which means the state Indeterminate Sentence Review Board can potentially require him to serve additional prison time if board members determine he is more likely than not to commit another sex crime if he is released.
Should he be released from prison, Judge Ruhl ordered Ramos Islas to register as a sex offender for life. Saying Ramos Islas "posed a menace to the community," the judge also said Ramos Islas would remain on community supervision for life.
