SEAFORD, Del. - A Seaford man has been sentenced to 45 years in federal prison for kidnapping and attacking an elderly woman before later trying to arrange her killing from jail, according to federal prosecutors.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware says 26-year-old Ralph Harmon was sentenced Monday, Aug. 17, by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Andrews after pleading guilty to federal carjacking, kidnapping, and cyberstalking charges.
The charges stem from a violent January 2023 incident that began in Seaford and continued into Salisbury
As WBOC has previously reported, Harmon was accused of approaching the 80-year-old victim outside her Seaford home on Jan. 13, 2023, displaying what appeared to be a firearm, and forcing her into her car. When the woman tried to escape through the passenger door, prosecutors say Harmon struck her in the head with the weapon and drove off with the victim.
Harmon then forced the woman to provide information for her bank cards before driving into Maryland, where he sexually assaulted her, prosecutors say.
Investigators further alleged Harmon then drove the woman to a residential neighborhood, led her to a dock with her hands bound, and pushed her into the icy waters of the Wicomico River. Prosecutors say the woman could not swim and Harmon struck her again when she attempted to surface.
Harmon later said he wanted her to die, according to the government's sentencing memorandum obtained by WBOC.
Luckily, the woman was finally able to climb out of the river and reach a road, where bystanders helped her.
Investigators say Harmon continued using or attempting to use the woman's bank card after leaving her and later met up with friends. Police eventually located the woman's vehicle outside a Salisbury tattoo shop, where Harmon ran from officers but was taken into custody. A BB gun resembling a firearm was recovered from his pants.
Federal prosecutors say Harmon's attempts to target the victim did not stop after his arrest.
While Harmon was awaiting his Maryland trial, investigators discovered recorded jail calls in which prosecutors say he tried to have an associate kill the woman to prevent her from testifying. Court documents say he provided her address and made repeated calls to her from custody, including eight consecutive calls around 1 a.m. The calls caused the woman to leave her home out of fear, according to prosecutors.
Harmon was previously convicted in Maryland and is already serving a life-plus sentence for those convictions including attempted murder, rape, kidnapping, armed robbery, and theft offenses.
In the federal case, prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Andrews to impose a 45-year sentence. The government said federal sentencing guidelines called for between 360 months and life in prison and argued that Harmon's conduct and criminal history warranted the longer sentence.
“To achieve justice, protect the public, deter others, and promote respect for the law, the Court must impose a sentence of forty-five years,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. “Nothing less will suffice.”
Harmon's attorneys requested a 30-year federal sentence to run concurrently with his Maryland sentence.
In their sentencing memorandum, defense attorneys acknowledged the seriousness of the attack but asked the court to consider Harmon's childhood, developmental history, and mental condition. They said Harmon experienced significant instability and abuse as a child, spent time in foster care and group homes, and suffered from cognitive and developmental impairments.
“This Court must also consider Mr. Harmon’s personal history and characteristics,” Harmon’s defense argued. “The facts of his life story are also horrific. He was exposed to trauma starting even before he was born and never had a chance for anything approaching a normal life. His mental condition is the cause of his behavior, documented from a young age and bears on his culpability.”
The defense also cited records showing Harmon had elevated lead levels as a child and said his full-scale IQ had been measured as low as 63. His attorneys argued those circumstances, along with his existing Maryland sentence, supported a 360-month federal sentence.
Andrews ultimately imposed the 45-year sentence requested by federal prosecutors.
“This was a senseless, random, vicious attack on an elderly victim of our Delaware community,” U.S. Attorney Benjamin L. Wallace said in announcing the sentence. “The Court’s sentence delivers justice and closure for the victim by holding the defendant accountable for all aspects of this violent criminal act; ensuring that he is not a threat to the community for the foreseeable future; and sending a message to any others who might terrorize our community that they will be held responsible by my office and our dedicated law-enforcement partners. This coordinated effort by the FBI, Seaford Police, Salisbury Police, Maryland State Police, and Wicomico County State’s Attorney’s Office ensured that justice was served.”
