ICE agent accused of lying to FBI pleads not guilty

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer appeared in federal court Friday morning and pleaded not guilty to six charges of lying to FBI investigators. Prosecutors alleged that ICE officer Christian Castro lied about an immigration operation that ended with a nonfatal shooting.

Officials formally arrested Castro on Wednesday for the state charges related to the nonfatal shooting, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty told reporters Thursday. Castro made his initial appearance before Hennepin County District Judge Paul Scoggin for his state charges on Thursday, before pleading not guilty in federal court Friday.

The shooting happened during an immigration arrest, where Castro attempted to stop a vehicle driven by a suspected illegal migrant, according to the indictment. Castro pursued the man on foot and tackled the suspect outside a duplex where he lived. While the two men wrestled on the ground, another duplex resident, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, came outside to help the Venezuelan man wrestle free from Castro, the DOJ said. Sosa-Celis and the suspect ran inside the duplex and were closing the door when Castro fired a shot that hit Sosa-Celis in the leg.

What part of the shooting did he allegedly lie about? Castro later told investigators that the two men had assaulted him with a broom and a snow shovel as he tried to arrest the suspected migrant, which prompted him to use his firearm. Federal officials initially charged Sosa-Celis and another individual with assault, but dropped the charges after video evidence called into question the accuracy of Castro’s account.

No person struck Castro with a broom or shovel as alleged, and the entire fight between the officer and the residents lasted about 11 seconds, while Castro claimed the fight was minutes long, according to the federal grand jury indictment. The bullet Castro fired lodged in the wall of a child's bedroom, and he invented a story to justify shooting into a house with several people in it, Moriarty said Thursday.