Attorney requests judge expedite sentencing in Ramos case

Brownsville mother Carla Ramos is requesting a federal judge expedite her sentencing on an illegal entry charge.

Ramos, 27, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 21 before U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen. However, her attorney, Thelma O. Garcia, filed a motion requesting Hanen waive her pre-sentence investigation, or PSI report, or expedite the PSI and her sentencing date, according to documents filed on June 29.

Ramos pleaded guilty on June 16 to a federal charge of entering the U.S. illegally. A federal indictment said she did not reapply for admission to the United States as required by law.

The expedited sentencing motion states Ramos has been in jail for approximately 3 ½ years, which is beyond the maximum time set by federal law on the illegal entry charge. The maximum federal sentence for the illegal entry violation is two years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000, sentencing guidelines say.

As of Thursday, no response from Hanen had been filed.

According to the criminal complaint filed against her, U.S. Border Patrol agents on Jan. 26, 2006, while conducting routine jail checks in a Cameron County jail, found that the incarcerated Ramos was in the country illegally. Ramos, who as a child moved to Brownsville from Mexico, was deported in May 2002 and did not apply for permission to re-enter the United States, the complaint said.

Ramos will remain in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service until sentencing, according to court documents.

Ramos has been through the state and federal judicial systems on a variety of charges, ranging from capital murder to unlawful entry.

In April she was found not guilty of capital murder, but did plead no contest to a burglary of habitation charge. She was sentenced to three years in jail and was credited for time served in that case.