Jailed Former Border Patrol Agent Allegedly Beaten

EL PASO, Texas (AP) – A former U.S. Border Patrol agent who was convicted of shooting a drug smuggling suspect and then lying about it was beaten by fellow inmates in prison, his relatives and a congressman said Tuesday.

Prison officials issued a statement Tuesday afternoon confirming that Ignacio Ramos was attacked Saturday night after his case was described in an episode of “America’s Most Wanted.”

In a written statement, Traci Billingsley, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman, said Ramos suffered minor cuts and bruises in the assault. He had been moved to the Special Housing Unit at the Yazoo City federal prison in Yazoo City, Miss.

Ignacio Ramos father- in-law tells ABC-7 Ramos was jumped by about five inmates on Saturday night in prison in Mississippi. He says Ramos told him the attack may have been prompted by the show ‘America’s Most Wanted, which featured the two agents this past weekend.

In an e-mail to ABC-7,Ramos’ motheralleges he wasattacked by five”Spanish speaking prisoners.” She adds that”appears that Nacho (Ramos)has a concussion, some broken ribs and other injuries.”

Ramos told his family he was set to visit the prison clinicMonday night.

Ramos’ conviction along with that of fellow former agent Jose Alonso Compean has sparked outcry from critics alleging the men were merely doing their job defending the border against criminals.

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, a vocal supporter of the agents and opponent of illegal immigration, criticized the Bush administration Tuesday for failing to protect Ramos and demanded a full presidential pardon for them.

“Not only did the administration choose the side of a foreign dope runner over the agents who stopped him from smuggling a load of drugs into the county – now they’ve failed to protect that agent while his case is on appeal,” he said in a statement.

Tancredo issued his statement after reports that Ramos was severely beaten by inmates at the Yazoo City federal prison, a medium- and low-security facility near Jackson, Miss.

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican running for president, also issued a statement Tuesday asking President Bush to order an investigation of the assault.

In a letter to Bush, Hunter also asked that Harley Lappin, director of the Bureau of Prisons, be fired if the probe showed any wrongdoing by Bureau officials.

The day the agents reported to prison Hunter requested that they be kept away from the general population for their own safety. Billingsley said the incident is being investigated and the four inmates believed to have been involved have been segregated from other inmates.

“It is regrettable that Mr. Ramos was assaulted, and the Bureau of Prisons will take appropriate actions to determine an appropriate housing status and ensure his ongoing safety,” Billingsley said.

Ramos and Compean were convicted last year of shooting Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in 2005 at a rural area near El Paso and then trying to cover up the incident. Davila was shot once in the buttocks.

The agents, who reported to prison in January, were each sentenced to more than a decade behind bars. Compean is serving his sentence at the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution, a low-security prison in Ohio.

There have been no reports of problems with his detention. According to Tancredo’s statement, Ramos’ relatives told him of the weekend beating Monday.

Monica Ramos, the agent’s wife, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he called her on his 38th birthday and said: “They got me. They got me good.”

She said her husband described being attacked late Saturday, when he “let his guard down” and went to his bed. The attackers, Monica Ramos said, kicked and stomped him for several minutes before running away.

Ignacio Ramos was able to identify one man in the group and is now pursuing criminal charges, Monica Ramos said.