The federal agent leading the government’s intensified immigration enforcement campaign in Chicago has wrongly identified a man detained by ICE agents as a rapist who was set free to roam the city while awaiting trial.
The man shown in a photo accompanying Gregory Bovino’s post — firmly held by agents in one of the feds’ trademark “glamour shots” — has never been accused of raping anyone, except by Bovino.
“Why are we in the greater Chicago area?” Bovino’s post began. “To arrest bad people and bad things.”
He went on to describe the man detained in the accompanying photo as “Exhibit A.”
“In addition to 9 previous arrests (including felony and misdemeanor convictions), his most recent arrest made national news, when on March 30, 2025, he allegedly posed as a rideshare driver in Chicago, IL and sexually assaulted a woman inside his vehicle after picking her up outside a local nightclub,” Bovino wrote. “He was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping with bodily harm, and unlawful restraint. He was released from detention two days after his arrest.”
OK. Let’s break that down.
The case Bovino is referring to involves a man named Alexander Ramos. To the best of our knowledge, we are the only news outlet that reported on Ramos’ arrest, which occurred on August 16, not March 30. But we certainly appreciate being considered “national news.”
March 30 is, however, the date that Ramos allegedly lured a 32-year-old woman into his SUV by posing as a rideshare driver outside the Hangge Uppe nightclub at 14 West Elm Street. Once inside his car, prosecutors said, the victim drifted in and out of consciousness as Ramos drove her around before stopping in the 1100 block of North Lake Shore Drive. She awoke to find him sexually assaulting her, and prosecutors said he continued the attack after she resisted.
“With a lengthy and violent criminal record dating back to 2002, why has he been living free as a bird in the Windy City?” Bovino asked on X. “Because of Chicago’s embrace of sanctuary policies, which hurt rather than help its residents. But no more. Operation Midway Blitz is here to rid Chicago of criminal illegal aliens like him.”
Hang on there, commander. Judge John Hock ordered Ramos detained on August 18, and he has been in the Cook County Jail ever since.
As for his “lengthy and violent criminal record dating back to 2002,” Cook County court records show only one local felony conviction: a 2014 theft case that resulted in probation.
So, who is the guy being restrained by agents in the photo Bovino posted? We were wondering that ourselves. WGN figured it out: He’s Columbino Ramos, a completely different man who looks somewhat like Alexander Ramos.
According to WGN, Columbino Ramos’ daughter said her father has lived in the U.S. without documentation for “many years,” working as a scrapper. ICE agents reportedly lured him into a trap last month by calling for him to pick up non-existent scrap metal in Norwood Park.
Since his arrest, Columbino Ramos has been moved among federal facilities in five different states, his daughter told WGN. Now, the federal government has labeled him a rapist and, as of Friday morning, Bovino has not set the record straight.
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