Alexandre Ramagem, a former Brazilian Intelligence chief sentenced along with former President Jair Bolsonaro to prison for an attempted coup, has been arrested in the United States, where he had fled, as reported by Brazilian authorities.
According to the Brazilian Federal Police (PF), "a Brazilian convicted by the Supreme Court was detained in Orlando, Florida, by the US Immigration Police (ICE)."
A PF source confirmed that it was Alexandre Ramagem, sentenced to 16 years of imprisonment last September. On the official website of the US Immigration Police, it simply states that he is "detained by ICE," without further details.
"This arrest is the result of international police cooperation between the Federal Police and US law enforcement authorities," emphasized the PF in a statement.
Ramagem, 53-year-old former deputy, "is considered a fugitive by the Brazilian justice system following his conviction for armed criminal organization, coup attempt, and violent attempt to abolish the rule of law," stated the Brazilian police.
On September 11, 2025, he was sentenced in a trial during which Bolsonaro received a 27-year prison sentence. They were found guilty of conspiring to keep Bolsonaro in power despite his defeat to the current left-wing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in the 2022 election.
A close ally of Jair Bolsonaro, Alexandre Ramagem led the Abin Intelligence agency under his presidency from July 2019 to March 2022.
In another case, the federal police last year recommended his indictment for his alleged involvement in an illegal espionage network benefiting Bolsonaro during his term.
Investigators suspect that Abin officials used an Israeli spy software called FirstMile to spy on political figures of all ideologies, Supreme Court judges, and even journalists.