Federal prosecutors charged U.S. The indictment follows an extradition standoff in Texas that freed the agent from detention last month.
A federal grand jury in Minnesota indicted 52-year-old ICE officer Christian Castro following an investigation into the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who was hit in the leg during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown in the city. According to sources familiar with the matter, federal authorities allege that Castro lied to investigators about the events that preceded the gunfire outside a residential doorway. Castro is accused of opening fire through the front door of a Minneapolis home, hitting Sosa-Celis, and then lying about the events before the shooting.
Christian Castro Released in Texas Amid Extradition Dispute
The federal charges drop amid a fierce jurisdictional battle between Minnesota and Texas officials. Castro was arrested in Texas and spent time detained at the Carrizalez-Rucker Cameron County Detention Center in Brownsville, where he was photographed being released on Aug. 27. His freedom came after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott refused to sign an extradition warrant that would have returned the agent to Minnesota authorities. What followed was at least one night of unrest in Minneapolis.
Under Texas law, detainees must be released after 90 days if an extradition order is not executed. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison attempted to intervene by filing a request for a temporary restraining order to block Castro’s release or force his return, but a federal judge ultimately ruled that the court had no authority to intervene in extradition disputes between the states. Separately in Minnesota, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty filed state-level charges against Castro in May, including four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime related to the same shooting. Castro has not yet entered a plea to the state or federal charges.
Disputed Evidence and Dropped Charges Against Sosa-Celis
The January confrontation initially resulted in criminal allegations against the man who was shot. Federal authorities in Minnesota initially accused Sosa-Celis and another man of beating an officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel during a confrontation. Those charges were later dropped by the U.S. Attorney’s Office after ICE officials acknowledged that video evidence showed the officers may have lied about the encounter, prompting an investigation.
Legal representation for the defense and prosecution remains active around the case. An attorney for Castro could not immediately be reached for comment.
Internal Fallout and Dismissal at the Justice Department
The federal inquiry into the Minneapolis shooting has also triggered sharp internal dissent within the Justice Department. Sources confirmed that a career prosecutor who helped lead the investigation, Matthew Evans, was fired after a letter he wrote became public. ProPublica reported that federal prosecutors were barred by officials in Washington from pursuing civil rights charges against Castro.
According to ProPublica, the assistant U.S. Attorney, Matthew Evans, said in a letter to Sosa-Celis’ lawyer that the agent would likely only face lower-level false statements charges despite Evans’ strongest possible
objections. According to ProPublica, Evans said he believed the office had sufficient evidence to charge Castro with a more significant civil rights offense known as deprivation of rights under color of law,
but claimed U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen and officials at Main Justice headquarters overruled him. Sources familiar with the matter told ABC News that Evans was fired after ProPublica published the letter, though sources also disputed his characterization of the investigation, saying the civil rights probe into Castro is still ongoing and a determination still hasn’t been made whether he’ll face additional charges.
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