Miami reggae artist ‘Shifta’ catches big break in murder-for-hire case

A dozen family members and friends broke out into applause for Tamrat “Shifta” Mason on Thursday in Miami federal court.

But it wasn’t for one of the reggae artist’s performances.

His supporters spontaneously clapped when a judge reversed Mason’s jury conviction for tampering with a witness in a Miami-Dade murder-for-hire case — then accepted his plea to a lesser charge of making a false statement to a federal agent. In doing so, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman gave Mason, 41, a sentence of time served, which amounted to the few days he had spent in a Miami federal lock-up after his arrest last year.

“I would like to thank you, judge, for your fairness,” Mason said in court, while giving props to his defense lawyer, Dustin Tischler, who filed the motion for his acquittal on the witness tampering charge.

“I credit both sides of this case to come to this resolution,” Altman told Tischler and federal prosecutors Abbie Waxman and Michael Gilfarb, who negotiated the alternative plea deal on the false statement charge.

Could have faced up to three years in prison

Before entering court on Thursday, Mason was facing a potential sentence between two and three years in prison for his original conviction on witness tampering involving lying to a federal agent during an FBI investigation. Mason’s plea deal carried a potential sentence between zero and six months in prison, with the judge opting to give him practically no time and no supervised release.

Mason’s light punishment as the “third wheel” in the murder-for-hire case will be far different from the potential life sentences that soon await the two lead defendants convicted of organizing the hit job on Miami-Dade custom-car designer Alex Vega.

Shot in the driveway of his Miami home

In May, a federal jury found business rival Rolando “Roly” Ramirez guilty of directing the murder-for-hire conspiracy and related charges involving the attack on Vega in the driveway of his Kendale Lakes home about six years ago. He was shot three times by a masked gunman as he was parked in his Land Rover on Aug. 27, 2019.

But Vega, 50, survived. He took the witness stand to deliver emotional testimony in the FBI case, which was built on incriminating circumstances, text messages, violent videos and secret payoffs.

Ramirez’s close friend, Rasheed “Free” Ali, a former University of Miami football player, was also found guilty of the same murder-for-hire conspiracy and other offenses.

“Ramirez wanted Vega gone,” Waxman said during closing arguments, calling Ramirez and Ali “partners in crime.” “They put the wheels in motion.”

Both Ramirez, 52, and Ali, 40, face up to life in prison at their sentencing hearings on Sept. 16, after the jury found them guilty of seven counts of conspiracy, murder for hire, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, interstate stalking, firearm violations and witness tampering.

Falling out in business

During the trial, Vega testified that he and Ramirez had been business competitors and partners for years before they had a falling out over Exclusive Motoring Worldwide in Doral. Vega, who customized cars, had owned the business, but then Ramirez, who did auto body work, took it over in an agreement to resolve Vega’s outstanding debts to him.

But their rivalry over money and customers led to a bitter lawsuit in Miami federal court in 2011 that was resolved through a settlement the following year. Ramirez ended up paying Vega $5,000 and his insurance company paid him another $20,000 — but Ramirez kept the business, assets and trademark.

Ramirez also owned another business, Doral Collision, next door to Exclusive Motoring.

During his testimony, Vega said that after they reached the settlement on June 27, 2012, under the supervision of a magistrate judge, Ramirez threatened him to his face, saying, “In due time. I’m going to kill you.”

“I freaked out,” Vega testified.

Celebrity car designer

After Ramirez and Vega parted ways, Vega went through a bankruptcy but rebuilt his reputation as a custom-car designer. Vega, the owner of The Auto Firm in Kendall, has designed sports-car renovations for many celebrities, including Grammy-winning singer Marc Anthony, rapper Rick Ross and Jamaican Olympic gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt, to name a few. Vega was also featured in a New York Times profile and a reality TV series called “The Auto Firm with Alex Vega.”

In an indictment, Vega’s rival, Ramirez, and his close friend, Ali, were accused of recruiting two New York men to carry out the hit on Vega: Jaime Serrano, 49, a marijuana dealer, and Julian Jimenez, 30, the son of Marcos Jimenez — Anthony’s sound engineer and occasional property manager, according to court documents.

Prosecutors alleged that Ramirez came up with having Serrano arrange the hit on his longtime enemy, Vega, as a way to pay off a $20,000 dope debt that Serrano owed to Ali and his friend, Mason.

Serrano was convicted at a prior trial and Jimenez, the shooter, cut a plea deal. In 2023, they were sentenced to 50 years and 35 years, respectively, by Judge Altman. But Serrano testified for the government at the latest trial, so prosecutors are expected to ask the judge to reduce his prison sentence.