OGDEN — A man who repeatedly stabbed another man in the head with an ice pick is on the way to prison after a judge Thursday chose not to adhere to a plea bargain that would have released the defendant to probation.

A sister of the victim pleaded with Judge Brian Cannell to send Stephen R. Ramirez, 41, to prison because of the viciousness of the stabbing and the family’s fear of Ramirez.

“They live a block away from each other,” the woman said in the 2nd District Court hearing. “If he gets out, he will kill my brother.”

She said surveillance video in the convenience store where the attack occurred April 29 demonstrated her concern.

“He walked in and saw my brother, walked back out, came back in and stabbed him in the head,” she said. “It went into his nasal cavity and broke his nose. He stabbed him again in his nose and shattered his cheekbone.”

She added, “There is no way this man should be free.”

In charging documents, doctors at a local hospital where the victim was treated told police the wounds easily could have been fatal.

Ramirez acknowledged he and the victim had a history of conflict and he claimed the man had attacked him earlier. “I took it in the wrong direction,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez interrupted the victim’s sister during her testimony, prompting Cannell to order the Weber County Jail to mute his audio feed.

In a plea bargain reached in July, Ramirez pleaded guilty to third-degree felony aggravated assault. In return, the Weber County Attorney’s Office agreed to drop a third-degree felony charge of use of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person. Further, prosecutors agreed to recommend at sentencing that Ramirez be sentenced to probation rather than prison time.

Public defender Shawn Condie told Cannell that, before the attack, Ramirez had successfully completed probation on an earlier offense, demonstrating he is worthy of probation again.

Court records show Ramirez had five previous convictions since 2016 on charges including threatening people with weapons, fighting police and forgery.

Cannell asked attorneys whether Ramirez’s plea bargain was a Rule 11 deal. Those deals are binding on the sentencing judge. Ramirez’s bargain was not binding.

“My concern is that he has a significant history, although he does better with structure,” Cannell said. “The assault was heinous.”

He ordered Ramirez to serve zero to five years at the Utah State Prison, the standard penalty by law for a third-degree felony, and probation upon his release.

Cannell normally works in 1st District Court in Logan, but on Thursday he was handling the regular Ogden calendar of Judge Michael DiReda, who was hearing cases in Davis County.

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