SAN ANTONIO – A Bexar County sheriff's deputy arrested on Thursday has bonded out.
Laura Ann Ramos, 43, is out of jail, but she is still facing charges of credit card abuse and theft, by a public servant.
"This is an employee who has worked at the sheriff's office for almost 10 years, so, there is no excuse," said Bexar County sheriff spokesman James Keith. "And now, she's going to be held accountable for it."
According to an affidavit, Ramos worked out an agreement with an inmate that she would take that inmate's credit card and deposit $500 into that inmates prison account.
Ramos never put the money into the account but, instead charged nearly $3,000 to the card.
The inmate told investigators that she trusted Ramos because she was an officer.
However, Keith said Ramos crossed the line long before she stole the money.
"Obviously, we do not allow our employees to do business for the inmates, nor do we expect them to conduct any sort of illegal activity," said Keith. "This sort of behavior will not be tolerated. It's not tolerated, and this officer is now in the process of losing her job."
Along with the inmate's statement, investigators have video of Ramos using the credit card.
Keith said they are investigating Ramos' motive, but for now she is on administrative leave while the termination process is underway.
"We have close to 1,900 employees, who come to work every single day, many of them, risking their lives to save this community and it's a shame when you have a handful of employees who bring discredit to this agency," said Keith.
Sheriff officials did send KSAT the final number of deputies arrested. Since January of last year, 16 people who work for the sheriff's office were arrested.