Convicted Murderers Attempt at a Reduced Sentence Backfires

An attempt for a lesser sentence has backfired for convicted murderer Joel Ramos. The  34 year old Ramos is serving an 80 year sentence for the brutal murders of the Skelton family in Outlook in 1993.  He claimed he was forced to plead guilty.  An appeals court ruled that he could ask to have his sentence reduced.
Instead, Judge Douglas Federspiel increased the sentence to 85 years. Ramos and co-defendent Miquel Guitan were 14 at the time of the murders. Guitan is serving a life sentence without parole.

They bludgeoned and stabbed to death  Michael and Lynn Skelton, both 34, and their sons Jason, 12, and Bryan, 6. The family was killed in their Outlook-area home.