Another lawsuit filed over treatment of ICE detainee at Ohio jail

The Butler County Sheriff’s office has again been accused of mistreating an immigrant it was holding for the federal government.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. district court in Cincinnati, alleges that a jailer used racial slurs against an Ecuadoran man, Luis Tenelanda, as he punched Tenelanda so hard that the detainee ended up in the hospital. 

In a written statement, the sheriff’s office said it couldn’t comment on the allegations because they’re part of pending litigation. But it said it ran a safe, professional operation.

“The Butler County Sheriff’s Office remains committed to the safe, secure, and professional operation of the Butler County Jail,” it said. “Sheriff (Richard) Jones continues to stand behind the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office who perform a difficult and demanding job each day while maintaining the professionalism and integrity expected by the citizens of Butler County.”

However, the plaintiff, his lawyers and an immigrant-support organization said there was a culture of mistreating immigrant detainees at the jail.

So much so, that in addition to asking for monetary damages, the suit asks the court to declare that Jones habitually fails in his duty to train and supervise jail staff. It also asks the judge to declare that the staff violated Tenelanda’s constitutional rights and caused him severe suffering in the process.

Lynn Tramonte, founder of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, said the officer accused of attacking Tenelanda was given an oral reprimand for not filing an incident report. But the sheriff’s office decided that the jailer had not used excessive force even though Tenelanda had to go to the hospital, she said. 

“This didn’t need to happen,” Tramonte said during a virtual press conference. “Mr. Tenelanda had been in this country for decades. He has adult children. He was a construction worker who built fire stations, police stations and schools. He was very proud of his work in this country.”

Immigrant-rights advocates said the incident was part of a pattern at the Butler County Jail. Located in Hamilton, the jail has housed immigration detainees under contract with the federal government during both Trump administrations.

“This is about more than just one sergeant’s actions,” said Gabriel Davis of the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, which, along with the Norris Law Group, filed the case. “It’s about a culture of abuse and inhumane treatment.”

According to the complaint, the incident occurred on June 8, 2025.

Tramonte said that immigration detainees were typically kept in their cells for 22 hours a day. 

When they were abruptly told that Sunday evening they wouldn’t get out at all that day, some began banging on their doors and shouting for what they called their “break.” Tenelanda joined in, the lawsuit said.

Sgt. Corneal Rowe called Tenelanda and his cellmate such things as “illegals,” “Mexican son of a bitch,” and “savages,” according to other detainees quoted in the lawsuit. 

Then Rowe entered Tenelanda’s cell and punched him in the stomach so hard that Tenelanda fell back against his metal bed frame, hitting his head and body so hard it caused him to pass out, the suit said.

After being checked by jail medical personnel, Tenelanda returned to his cell, but woke in the middle of the night and vomited blood, the suit said. He continued to feel dizzy, vomited more and had severe pain in his arm later that day, it said.

Two days after the incident, Tenelanda was taken to the hospital for lab work and X-rays. He “was told that his arm was fine and that he had an inflamed stomach,” the suit said.

The hospital gave Tenelanda his medical reports, but a sheriff’s deputy took them and then refused to hand them over, the detainee’s lawyers said. They were forced to get another copy from the hospital after Tenelanda had been deported to Ecuador, they said.

It wasn’t the first time jailers in Butler County have been accused of mistreating immigration detainees.

Men born in Cameroon and Somalia sued, alleging that in 2020 they were repeatedly beaten. They also accused guards of taking a prayer rug from one detainee, a Muslim, and putting it in the toilet.

The case is pending and lawyers for Butler County are fighting the allegations. 

Tremonte pointed out that immigration detainees are locked in their cells almost constantly in Butler County even though they’re being held on civil — not criminal — detainers. 

Tenelanda’s treatment rankled him after spending 30 years in the United States, according to a letter that Tramonte read. He has children who are citizens, including one in law school.

“We Hispanics are not criminals like they call us and treat us,” it said. “I was working for a very prestigious company in Dayton, Ohio, building schools, buildings for police and firemen and hotels. I worked in all of those places until my last day — paying my taxes every year — and it’s not fair that they treat us like this.”

Tenelanda had been supporting his children. Now he’s back in Ecuador with an injured shoulder that prevents him from working, his letter said.

Tramonte said Tenelanda’s family “was impacted tremendously” by his deportation.

“There’s a lot of breakdown in families psychologically after deportation because they don’t know who to blame,” she said. “It’s hard. It’s stressful. It’s a very difficult time.”