Federal prosecutors have charged an ICE officer with lying to investigators about his shooting of a Venezuelan migrant in Minneapolis earlier this year, according to reports.
Christian Castro, 52, is charged with lying to federal agents about the January encounter in which he shot Julio Sosa-Celis in the leg. Making false statements to federal agents carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison, according to The Washington Post.
The federal charges come after Castro’s release from custody in Texas, where he had been arrested on Minnesota charges stemming from the shooting. His federal charges remain sealed, and he has not yet been taken into federal custody, according to the Post.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said during a May news conference that Castro fired toward a north Minneapolis home “with the intent to cause fear of immediate bodily harm or death to the four adults who were just inside the door.” The bullet struck Sosa-Celis in the leg before traveling through a closet and into the wall of a child’s bedroom, according to prosecutors.
Castro allegedly told federal investigators that Sosa-Celis and another man assaulted him with a broom handle and a snow shovel, prompting him to fire his gun in “self-defense,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said during a previous news conference.
Initially, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed that Sosa-Celis tried to “evade arrest” and “began to resist and violently assault” a federal officer. The department said that two individuals exited a nearby apartment before attacking the officer “with a snow shovel and broom handle.”
DHS said that Sosa-Celis then “got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick.”
“Fearing for his life and safety,” the officer “fired a defensive shot” that hit Sosa-Celis in the leg, DHS said at the time. Sosa-Celis and two other individuals “ran back into the apartment and barricaded themselves inside” before ICE nabbed them, the agency said.
Video later raised questions about that account. In February, then-Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons announced a federal probe into the incident after footage showed that “sworn testimony provided by two separate officers” appeared to have them making “untruthful statements.”
“Lying under oath is a serious federal offense,” Lyons said at the time.
“The men and women of ICE are entrusted with upholding the rule of law and are held to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and ethical conduct,” he said. “Violations of this sacred sworn oath will not be tolerated. ICE remains fully committed to transparency, accountability, and the fair enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws.”
After the video footage emerged, a federal judge dismissed the charges against the two migrants.
Authorities arrested Castro in Cameron County, Texas, on May 29 and released him from custody last month after Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott failed to facilitate his extradition to Minnesota. Texas law allows authorities to hold a person jailed while awaiting extradition for up to 90 days.
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