Falsely accused woman officially cleared

A woman who spent six months in jail on charges that she impersonated a police officer and robbed people at gunpoint was officially cleared of all charges Tuesday after authorities say they discovered that her ex-boyfriend had framed her for the crime.

Seemona Sumasar, 35, was released from jail last month when two people who had claimed she robbed them admitted they had concocted their stories after Sumasar's ex-boyfriend, Jerry Ramrattan, 38, of East Elmhurst, promised to pay them to do so, prosecutors said.

Sumasar said Ramrattan was about to go to trial on charges that he raped her in March 2009. She said he framed her as a last desperate attempt to discredit her before the trial.

"I'm so happy it's officially dismissed," Sumasar said. "Now I have to pick up the pieces and figure out what's next for me."

Ramrattan has pleaded not guilty to second-degree perjury, falsifying business records and other charges. Both those charges and the rape charges against him are pending.

The three people that prosecutors say posed as Sumasar's victims have pleaded not guilty to perjury and other charges.

Sumasar, who is living in Queens, said the months she spent in the Nassau County jail, separated from her 12-year-old daughter, were almost unbearable.

Prosecutors said they feel terrible about what happened, but it wasn't their fault. They said they had two witnesses making detailed complaints against Sumasar. And in a bizarre twist, police who reported to one of the locations of the fake robberies actually spotted a car that matched her car's description. When they tried to stop the vehicle, the driver fled, one prosecutor said, adding that the incident has never been explained.

Sumasar said she lost much during her time in jail. Her business, a Golden Krust bakery in Queens, shut down, and her home went into foreclosure.

Her lawyer, Anthony Grandinette, of Mineola, said now that her case is resolved, her focus will turn to helping police prosecute Ramrattan and the people who framed her. Grandinette said Sumasar has not decided whether she will file a civil lawsuit in the case.