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A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges accusing him of lying to investigators about being attacked before he shot and wounded a Venezuelan man during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Christian Castro appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge in Minnesota after a federal grand jury indicted him this month on six counts of making false statements in connection with the Jan. 14 shooting of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.
Castro, who wore a black suit and an electronic ankle monitor during Friday's hearing, spoke only briefly. ICE suspended him without pay earlier this year.
The federal case comes a day after Castro appeared in state court on assault charges and was released from custody. His attorney, Daniel Gerdts, declined to comment as he left the courthouse.
Prosecutors in both the federal and state cases allege that Castro fired through the front door of a Minneapolis home, striking Sosa-Celis in the leg.
According to prosecutors, Castro later told investigators that he had been attacked with a broom handle and a snow shovel before he fired his weapon. Federal prosecutors accuse him of making false statements about the incident.
Minnesota prosecutors charged Castro in May, but efforts to extradite him from Texas, where he had been arrested, were delayed amid a legal dispute between the two states.
Castro ultimately returned to Minnesota on his own after being released from a Texas jail last month. Federal authorities had raised concerns that he could flee across the U.S.-Mexico border.
The case has become part of a broader political dispute surrounding the federal immigration enforcement campaign in Minnesota.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Trump ally, had previously resisted signing Castro's extradition warrant, linking the matter to investigations into alleged fraud involving government social service programs in Minnesota.
The immigration crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, brought thousands of federal agents to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and triggered widespread protests and arrests. Two U.S. citizens were also fatally shot by federal officers during the operation.
Castro's prosecution is the first Justice Department case against a federal officer over alleged conduct during Operation Metro Surge, according to prosecutors.
In an earlier federal hearing in Texas, Castro was released on a $75,000 bond. He was ordered to wear a GPS ankle monitor and surrender his passport and any personal firearms while the case proceeds.
Castro is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. (ILKHA)
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