A federal judge has appointed a public defender to represent a convicted sex offender accused of illegally re-entering the United States and coming to Mahoning County.

A criminal complaint alleges that 65-year-old Baudilio Ramos re-entered the U.S. illegally after deportation. 

The investigation began after the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office received a tip regarding Ramos’s potential status as a sex offender.

According to an affidavit filed by a Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent, Ramos said he was born in Guatemala and a citizen of that country.  He came to the United States in 1990 on a commercial visa.  He said that he was accused of molesting a child in the past and served two-and-a-half years in prison. After his jail term, he was deported and flown back to Guatemala.

Ramos said after ten months, he returned to the U.S. by crossing the river from Matamoras, Mexico into Texas.  He said he paid a “coyote” $3,000 to take him from Mexico to Houston, Texas. Coyote is a slang term for a human smuggler.

Another “coyote” took him from Houston close to Spring Valley, New York.  He moved to the Youngstown area and has lived here for about two years.  Ramos admitted that he did not receive permission to reenter the United States.

Ramos, who has been in the county jail since his arrest on Tuesday, is charged with illegal Reentry into the United States after Deportation. 

A hearing is scheduled in U.S. District Court in Youngstown on Thursday to determine if Ramos will continue to be held in custody while a federal grand jury considers the case.