Two men accused of assaulting ICE officer will stay in pre-trial custody despite judge's order
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A federal judge Tuesday ordered two men charged with assaulting an ICE officer released from custody pre-trial.
However, before the men could be released, they were taken into custody by ICE agents.
Federal authorities say Alfredo Aljorna and Julio Sosa-Celis assaulted an ICE officer on the night of Jan. 14.
Watching the proceedings at the federal courthouse in St. Paul was Indriany Mendoza-Camacho, who is Sosa-Celis’ partner. She told MPR News that neither man attacked the ICE agent that night. And she says the agent fired his gun through the front door. The bullet grazed Sosa Celis, went through the corridor wall and then went through another wall in the first floor apartment between a child’s crib and a bed.
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Attorney Robin Wolpert is representing Sosa-Celis. She said Tuesday’s hearing was held so the government could argue against the magistrate judge’s recommendation that the two men be released with conditions before their trials. Judge Paul Magnuson agreed with the magistrate judge and ordered them released.
“After the hearing, I went to the U.S. Marshal's office to meet with my client, and I was waiting there with our interpreter, and a marshal came in and said that my client had already been taken into custody by ICE and was being transported away,” said Wolpert.
Attorneys for Aljorna and Sosa-Celis have also filed motions asking the court to prevent the government from deporting the two men or the witnesses — including Camacho-Mendoza.
— Regina Medina, MPR News
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