WASHINGTON, Sept 25: Three Immigration and Naturalization Service agents were arrested in Texas by the FBI on Tuesday on civil rights charges for beating an illegal immigrant, who later died from the injuries.

Agents Carlos Reyna, 42; Richard Henry Gonzales, 36; and Louis Rey Gomez, 36, all of San Antonio, Texas, were charged with violating the civil rights of Serafin Olvera-Carrera, who was brutally beaten during the raid in Bryan on March 25, 2001.

“It’s important for the public to understand that the United States is not going to put up with violations of law from anybody,” US Attorney Michael Shelby said. “Especially not from it’s own agents and employees.”

Prosecutors said Reyna assaulted Olvera-Carrera by beating him on the body and neck. Gonzales is accused of spraying the man with pepper spray, and all three are accused of “acting with deliberate indifference” to the victim’s serious medical needs.

Shelby said Olvera-Carrera was taken to a Houston hospital paralyzed from the neck down. He died of complications from blunt force trauma to the neck, according to the autopsy report.

Denton Lankford, a spokesman for the INS in San Antonio, said the agency “takes the charges very seriously, and will work closely with the US attorney’s office in its investigation.”

All three agents face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Olvera-Carrera, 48, was the father of five. He had migrated to the United States in 1977, settling in Houston with his wife. His wife and children are all US citizens and Houston residents.

Olvera-Carrera had a visa at one time and a work permit, but he had allowed them to expire.