Carlo Ricardo

Carlo Ricardo was a Latino inmate featured in Oz. He was a Story Arc character in Season 3. Portrayed by Juan Carlos Hernandez.

He is one of the Latinos in Em City, along with Hernandez, Guerra, Vasquez and Alvarez. He often receives visits from his family, who give him gift baskets, which he then shares with the other Latinos. Eventually, all of the members of his family stop visiting him (except for his sister, Margarita) and he slowly loses control of his sanity. He is stabbed to death on Christmas day during a confrontation with Miguel Alvarez.

He didn't receive a crime flashback because of his alleged involvement in the rape of Warden Glynn's daughter.

Ricardo arrives immediately sponsored and welcomed into El Norte by El Cid. He has frequent visits from his family who bring him fruit and other gifts during their visits. Over time, his family members stop visiting as frequently and this makes him unstable as they are all that he has to keep his sanity. In Emerald City, Ricardo assists Hernandez and Guerra doing whatever is necessary to keep the Latinos credible. He gets into an argument with Poet that Black CO Clayton Hughes gets in the way of. Ricardo chokes Hughes with his nightstick and threatens him. Carlo goes insane and ends up getting a hold of Hughes' nightstick and is wrestled down by the rest of the COs being sent to the hole as a result. Hughes has an uneasy time with the Latinos while in Oz as he uses a stun gun on Hernandez at one point and in a deleted scene is shown calling Ricardo a "Spic".

When released, he sees that Miguel Alvarez  is also out of solitary and is for the time being in El Norte. To move up the further in the drug trade, Hernandez is offered a partnership from Chucky Pancamo  and Simon Adebisi if he helps bring down the Homeboys who currently run the drug trade. Ricardo assists in injuring Homeboys Poet and Pierce and the Latinos then have a secure third in the drug trade. Things get complicated however when the Latinos confiscate drugs from Ryan O'Reily who then tips off the COs that Hernandez is carrying drugs.

Carlo goes to solitary with Hernandez and Guerra, Alvarez does not go as he left when seeing the COs approaching. In an interrogation Warden Glynn tries to obtain information from Ricardo claiming that since his family visits regularly, he is from a better place than Hernandez or Guerra. Ricardo stays true to El Cid and El Norte though in not snitching on his fellow gang members. While in solitary, his sister visits claiming that she is moving to Oakland and needs him to see a final message from her as she is the only one left who still cares about him. McManus passes the note to the COs who throw away the message as they do not wish to give Ricardo any assistance.

When released from solitary Ricardo, Guerra, and Hernandez are convinced that Alvarez ratted on them and assure him that he will die for his betrayal. Ricardo and Guerra make an attempt on Alvarez where Miguel ends up slicing Carlo in self defense subsequently ending his life. Alvarez then claims to Glynn that Ricardo was the one who raped Glynn's daughter, laughing at how he was under Glynn's nose the whole time, though this turned out to be false.