Lulu Sosa: The Murder-for-Hire Plot Against Ramon Sosa

Lulu Sosa is the Texas woman behind the 2015 murder-for-hire plot against her husband, former professional boxer Ramon Sosa. She tried to arrange his killing during their divorce, was caught after Ramon and police staged his death to draw out her confession, pleaded guilty to solicitation of murder, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.¹

Who Lulu and Ramon Sosa Are

Maria de Lourdes “Lulu” Sosa married Ramon Sosa, a former professional boxer known as the “Puerto Rican Express,” in March 2009 after the two met at a salsa club in Houston.² Together they opened Woodlands Boxing and Fitness in Spring, Texas, a gym that served roughly 200 clients and generated about $18,000 to $20,000 a month.³ Ramon later said the marriage held together for about three years before financial disputes, his long hours, and Lulu’s jealousy over his children from a prior relationship pulled it apart. She filed for divorce in March 2015.

How the Plot Was Uncovered

As the divorce dragged on, Lulu began asking around for someone to kill Ramon. A gym member and friend of Ramon’s known as “Mundo,” a former gang member Ramon had mentored, overheard her saying she wanted Ramon to “disappear.” Mundo played along. He told Lulu he could introduce her to a hitman and invented a character named “Paco,” borrowing the name from the film Blood In Blood Out.³

Mundo immediately told Ramon. Ramon bought a burner phone and began texting Lulu as “Paco” through Mundo. Over about three weeks, Mundo secretly recorded at least a dozen conversations in which Lulu confirmed what she wanted and discussed payment: cash, jewelry, watches, and the title to Ramon’s truck. On one recording, she spelled out her motive: “If he dies, I will have the life insurance. I will have his pension payments for the rest of my life. My life will be set.”²

She also set a deadline. Lulu wanted Ramon killed before July 22, 2015, when the divorce was expected to be finalized, telling Mundo that otherwise Ramon’s children would inherit his assets instead of her.²

The Staged Death and Arrest

Before the July 4th holiday, Ramon and Mundo took the recordings to the Montgomery County Precinct 3 Constable’s Office. Lieutenant Mike Atkins verified the account and let Mundo keep playing middleman while investigators took over. The Texas Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigations Division and the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office also joined the case.⁴

To get what Atkins called “slam-dunk” evidence, investigators staged Ramon’s murder. On July 21, 2015, they drove him to a restricted dump-truck debris area in rural Montgomery County. Using makeup techniques learned from YouTube tutorials and disaster drill kits, officers applied corn syrup and food coloring to simulate blood and painted a fake bullet wound on his temple. Ramon stripped to his underwear, had his hands bound, and lay in a waist-deep grave while officers photographed the scene.³

On July 22, an undercover officer posing as “Paco” met Lulu and showed her the photos. According to investigators, she showed no shock. She laughed and asked about details of the killing. When the officer told her Ramon would not “get up anymore,” she laughed again. Atkins described her as a “pretty cold character.”⁵

Lulu was arrested on July 23, 2015, after a final meeting with the undercover agent in which she handed over payment. She was charged with solicitation of capital murder and held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1 million bond. Kelly Blackburn, Trial Bureau Chief of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, said investigators believed Lulu may have approached others about killing Ramon and asked any additional witnesses to come forward.⁴

Guilty Plea and 20-Year Sentence

On October 11, 2016, Lulu appeared before Judge Kathleen Hamilton in the 359th State District Court in Conroe, Texas, and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of solicitation of murder, a second-degree felony. The sentence was 20 years in prison.¹ The plea let her avoid a possible life sentence on the original first-degree solicitation of capital murder charge. The judge ordered that she had no right to appeal. Lulu was represented by attorney E. Tay Bond.⁶

As part of the proceedings, Lulu gave up any claim to the family home and the gym; those assets went to Ramon. He addressed her in the courtroom at sentencing, and afterward told reporters the 20 years was “fair for what she did,” adding, “I’m just happy that it’s over with.”⁷

The Defense Claim

Lulu’s divorce attorney, Julio Joglar, said she had acted out of fear stemming from alleged physical abuse by Ramon, telling reporters, “Nobody got to hear her side.”⁵ Because she pleaded guilty rather than going to trial, those claims were never tested in court.

Where Lulu Sosa Is Now

She is listed in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice inmate database under the name Maria Sosa, TDCJ number 02096148.⁸ One source noted a projected release date of October 2023, and the TDCJ record shows blank fields for parole decision dates, so her current custodial status cannot be confirmed from the available records.² According to the 48 Hours report, she becomes eligible for parole review each year.⁵

1
Houston Chronicle. Staged Murder Photos Led to Wife’s Guilty Plea
2
Oxygen. Ramon Sosa Faked Own Murder After Wife Lulu Hires Hitman
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ESPN. How a Boxing Trainer Survived a Murder Plot Hatched by His Wife
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Your Conroe News. Woodlands-Area Business Owner Arrested in Murder-for-Hire Plot
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CBS News. Ramon Sosa, Boxer Marked for Murder, Goes Undercover
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Your Conroe News. Spring Woman Pleads Guilty in Murder-for-Hire Plot
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Houston Chronicle. Spring Victim in Murder-for-Hire Plot, Ramon Sosa
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Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Inmate Search: Sosa, Maria