ICE Officer Christian Castro Charged Six Times for Lying About Minneapolis Shooting

A federal grand jury indicted ICE officer Christian Castro on six counts of lying to the FBI about the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis.

ICE officer indicted on six false statement counts over Minneapolis shooting of Venezuelan man

A federal grand jury has indicted ICE officer Christian Castro on six counts of making false statements to the FBI about a shooting that wounded a Venezuelan immigrant during immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis in January, nbcnews.com reported.

The indictment, returned on Wednesday, relates to the 14 January shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who was struck by a bullet in the leg. A source familiar with the investigation told NBC News that a separate inquiry into whether Castro should face a more serious civil rights charge in connection with the same incident remains ongoing.

Castro appeared in federal court in McAllen, Texas, on Friday and pleaded not guilty to all six counts. A federal judge ordered his release on a $75,000 unsecured bond. As conditions of release, Castro must surrender his passport, submit to monitoring, and comply with travel restrictions — though he is permitted to travel to Minnesota for his next court appearance.

His attorneys said the judge's decision reflected the court's confidence that Castro would appear for future proceedings and did not consider him a flight risk.

Release from Texas jail preceded federal charges

The federal indictment came one week after Castro was released from a jail in Brownsville, Texas, despite an extradition warrant from Minnesota prosecutors seeking his transfer to face state charges. Those charges — assault and false reporting of a crime — stem from the same shooting.

Castro had been arrested in May in connection with the Minnesota case. A judge and Texas Governor Greg Abbott both declined to sign the extradition warrant, citing fraud investigations involving social services programmes in Minnesota, which the Trump administration has used to support its immigration enforcement actions in the state.

Abbott's press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, told NBC News on Thursday that "state law enforcement stands ready and willing to assist federal partners in facilitating Mr. Castro's arrest if needed," adding that details of the federal indictment were best addressed to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Video evidence undermined initial account of the encounter

Federal authorities had initially accused Sosa-Celis and another man of assaulting an immigration officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel in the confrontation that preceded the shooting. Federal prosecutors subsequently dropped those charges after video evidence indicated that the ICE officers may have provided a false account of the encounter.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Thursday night that Castro was in custody in Texas and that she expects extradition to proceed. "Despite Gov. Abbott's best efforts to shield Mr. Castro, we will see him soon," she said in a statement.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison confirmed on social media that Castro had turned himself in. "I've said all along that Christian Castro would face justice in Minnesota. And now that he's finally turned himself in in Texas, he soon will," Ellison wrote.

Federal prosecutor fired as indictment was announced

As news of the indictment broke, a federal prosecutor working on the case against Castro was dismissed, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Evans had reportedly told lawyers for Sosa-Celis that Department of Justice officials had blocked efforts to bring the more serious civil rights charge against Castro, according to a report by ProPublica published Wednesday.

Evans did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and his DOJ email address returned an automated reply indicating he was on leave.

Source: Google News MT