ICE Agent Surrenders on Six False-Statement Charges

ICE agent Christian Castro has turned himself in to federal authorities — charged not with shooting a man through a closed Minneapolis door, but with lying about it.

A federal grand jury indicted Castro on six counts of making false statements related to the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, according to the indictment, which was unsealed Friday. Castro surrendered on Thursday, the Associated Press and other outlets reported.

By charging Castro only with making false statements, the Justice Department will not have to litigate whether the shooting was justified, the Minnesota Reformer reported.

The Washington Post called the case unprecedented in President Donald Trump's second term: the first time an officer deployed as part of the administration's nationwide immigration enforcement crackdown has been charged with a felony.

The Charges

The six counts stem from six specific statements Castro made to FBI investigators after the shooting, according to the indictment as reported by the Minnesota Reformer.

Four counts cover Castro's claim that Sosa-Celis, a second man named Alfredo Aljorna, and a third man who did not exist hit him with a broom or a shovel. One count covers his statement that the physical altercation lasted three minutes. One covers his statement that he was on the ground when he fired.

Surveillance footage shows no one hit Castro with a broom or shovel, that the altercation lasted 11 seconds rather than three minutes, that no man other than Castro, Aljorna and Sosa-Celis was present, and that Castro was standing when he fired at the front door.