MIAMI – Celebrity car designer Alex Vega survived a murder plot and is now speaking about the case for the first time in years.
“It is tough when you get ambushed and shot and you think you are going to die, and it happens in front of your family,” said Vega. “You have to show them the strength.”
The “unstoppable” tattoo on his forearm and his service dog Morris are daily reminders of the 2019 day Vega survived an attempt to take his life in the driveway of his Kendall home.
“All my life is my work, and my family, my kids and grandkids,” he said. “I enjoy my life, I don’t get into anything bad. To live something like that, you are not expected in your life to go through that, but you realize that there are bad people that will want you out of this world for no reason and you just have to live looking over your shoulder every day.
“Every time I drive, everywhere I go, I have to have security with me. It is there because I know the dangers out there. I lived it. You have to protect yourself in every way. I am with my K-9 every day of my life. It goes everywhere, he is always next to me, he can detect gunpowder. It changes the way you live, you have to be cautious, always know that something will happen.”
Vega is speaking now that a jury, on Wednesday, found three defendants guilty on federal charges in the murder-for-hire plot.
“I knew, because of being through the trial, there was no way it could not have been another verdict than guilty, but you never know,” he said. “It is 12 people, evidence needs to be looked at in detail because you are putting people in jail for the rest of their life.
“I had my wife on one side, and my brother on the other, it was actually my brother’s birthday yesterday and I said I am going to give you the best gift, to hear those ‘guilty, guilty, guilty,’ and know everything my whole family has endured, through this, there wasn’t a better feeling in the world. These guys are not going to do it to anybody else, and for my family to feel like the people who put us through this, they are going away forever.”
Vega said he was there for every day of the trial.
“I didn’t miss a beat,” he said. “When you see the whole trial, and you see how many people were involved, in one person’s anger it is hard to say that I can say I can live my life in peace, there was justice. It is never (an) assurance because it can still happen, but we do have people now in jail who cannot do to other people what they did to me. And I love people, I don’t want anything to go through what I went through.”
One of the co-conspirators in the plot was Rolando Ramirez, who Vega said may have viewed him as a business rival.
“To him, I was his competitor and to me, he didn’t exist,” said Vega. “I just continued living my life. He had his business next to me. We did business once together, I knew he wasn’t a good person and then I moved on with my life. I built my empire with my family and continued my life and he couldn’t resist the fact that I was successful and that he couldn’t be in this business, and he thought the easiest way was plotting what he did, and I survived, thank God.”
Vega’s advice for the community is to remain vigilant.
“I have waited five years to be able to talk,” he said. “I couldn’t talk to anybody, it is a federal case. I am glad to talk about the experience and to have finally the closure.
“There is bad people, we have to be very careful. We have to be alert to our surroundings, and keep our circle very, very close.
Vega’s attorney said sentencing is set for Aug. 19. Ramirez is facing the potential of life in prison.
Read the indictment below:
Read the guilty verdict forms below: