ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — 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 U.S. magistrate judge after prosecutors indicted him this month on six federal counts of making false statements about the Jan.
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 U.S.-Mexico border after being released from a Texas jail, he instead turned himself in to federal authorities when he was indicted separately in U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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.
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Associated Press journalist Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this story.
