ICE officer pleads not guilty to charges he lied to the FBI about nonfatal Minneapolis shooting

An immigration officer pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges that he lied to the FBI about being attacked before he shot and wounded a Venezuelan man during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis early this year.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro appeared before a US magistrate judge after prosecutors indicted him this month on six federal counts of making false statements about the January 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.

Castro’s federal hearing came a day after he appeared in state court on assault charges and was released from custody. His defense attorney, Daniel Gerdts, declined to comment on the case as he left the courthouse Friday.

The court proceedings followed months of legal and political battles over whether Castro, 52, would be extradited from his home state of Texas to face charges in Minnesota. He ended up returning on his own after being freed from a Texas jail last month.

In both the federal and state cases against Castro, prosecutors say he shot 24-year-old Sosa-Celis in the leg while firing through the front door of a Minneapolis home. They say Castro later lied to investigators when he told them he had been attacked with a broom handle and a snow shovel before firing his gun.

Minnesota prosecutors charged him in May, but were thwarted in their efforts to extradite Castro from his home state of Texas, where he had been arrested.

After Minnesota officials sounded alarms that Castro might flee across the US-Mexico border after being released from a Texas jail, he instead turned himself in to federal authorities when he was indicted separately in US District Court earlier this month.

It’s the first Justice Department prosecution of a federal officer for actions taken during this year’s massive Operation Metro Surge , which brought thousands of agents to the Twin Cities and led to sweeping protests, arrests and the fatal shootings of two US citizens by federal officers.

Castro was released on a $75,000 bond and ordered to wear a GPS ankle monitor when he appeared previously before a federal judge in Texas. He was also told to surrender his passport and any personal firearms.

The US Department of Homeland Security has suspended Castro without pay while he faces criminal charges.

Minnesota authorities have battled President Donald Trump’s administration over who should handle any charges against Castro. The Department of Homeland Security has called Minnesota’s prosecution of Castro “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt,” saying only federal authorities have jurisdiction.

Authorities, including Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, arrested Castro in Cameron County, Texas, on May 29, after a Minnesota judge issued a nationwide warrant.

Under Texas law, Castro could be detained for 90 days, during which Minnesota sought his extradition. But Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott last month refused to sign an extradition warrant .

一名移民官员周五对联邦指控拒不不认罪，这些指控称他在今年年初明尼阿波利斯市的移民打击行动中枪击并致伤一名委内瑞拉男子之前，曾向联邦调查局谎称自己遭到袭击。

美国移民和海关执法局官员克里斯蒂安·卡斯特罗在本月被检察官以六项联邦罪名起诉后，出庭接受美国地方法官的审讯。这些罪名包括就 1 月 14 日胡里奥·塞萨尔·索萨-塞利斯枪击案作出虚假陈述。

卡斯特罗的联邦听证会是在他因袭击指控在州法院出庭并获释的第二天举行的。他的辩护律师丹尼尔·格尔茨周五离开法院时拒绝就此案发表评论。

此前，围绕52岁的卡斯特罗是否会被从其家乡德克萨斯州引渡到明尼苏达州受审，各方进行了数月的法律和政治斗争。最终，卡斯特罗上个月从德克萨斯州监狱获释后自行返回明尼苏达州。

在针对卡斯特罗的联邦和州级案件中，检方称他向明尼阿波利斯一户人家的前门开枪，击中了24岁的索萨-塞利斯的腿部。检方还称，卡斯特罗后来向调查人员撒谎，声称在开枪前他曾遭到扫帚柄和雪铲的袭击。

明尼苏达州检察官于 5 月对他提起诉讼，但他们试图将卡斯特罗从他的家乡德克萨斯州引渡回国的努力受挫，卡斯特罗此前已在德克萨斯州被捕。

明尼苏达州官员发出警告，称卡斯特罗从德克萨斯州监狱获释后可能会逃往美墨边境，但本月初他在美国地方法院被单独起诉后，反而向联邦当局自首。

这是司法部首次对联邦官员提起诉讼，指控其在今年大规模的“地铁突击行动”中采取的行动。该行动向双子城地区派遣了数千名特工，引发了大规模抗议、逮捕行动，并导致两名美国公民被联邦官员枪杀。

卡斯特罗此前在德克萨斯州的一名联邦法官面前出庭时，获准以7.5万美元保释，并被勒令佩戴GPS脚环。他还被要求上交护照和所有个人枪支。

美国国土安全部已暂停卡斯特罗的职务，停职期间不发放工资，他目前面临刑事指控。

明尼苏达州当局与唐纳德·特朗普总统的政府就卡斯特罗的指控处理权问题展开了激烈争论。国土安全部称明尼苏达州对卡斯特罗的起诉“非法且纯粹是政治作秀”，并表示只有联邦当局才有管辖权。

5月29日，明尼苏达州刑事侦查局等执法部门在德克萨斯州卡梅伦县逮捕了卡斯特罗，此前明尼苏达州一名法官签发了全国通缉令。

根据德克萨斯州法律，卡斯特罗可能被拘留90天，在此期间明尼苏达州寻求引渡他。但德克萨斯州共和党州长格雷格·阿博特上个月拒绝签署引渡令。