Federal prosecutors have charged US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro with allegedly lying to investigators about the shooting of Venezuelan immigrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis.
A federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment on Wednesday, although the case remains under seal and the precise charges have not been made public. Castro is accused of making false statements to federal investigators about the incident in January.
The development comes days after Castro was released from a Texas jail following a dispute over his extradition to Minnesota, where he faces separate state charges connected to the same shooting.
Authorities allege that Castro fired through the closed front door of an occupied home in north Minneapolis on 14 January, striking Mr Sosa-Celis in the leg. The incident took place during Operation Metro Surge, a major immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota.
Castro initially told investigators that he had been attacked while trying to make an arrest. Federal authorities said at the time that two men had confronted him with a broom handle and a snow shovel.
However, surveillance footage and other evidence later contradicted that account. The footage is understood to show Castro pursuing a man towards the property before firing into the house, while the shovel remained on the ground and was not used against him.
Federal prosecutors subsequently dropped assault charges against Mr Sosa-Celis and another man, citing newly discovered evidence that was materially inconsistent with the original allegations.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has charged Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. Minnesota authorities say he fired into a home knowing it was occupied, with the bullet eventually coming to rest in a child’s bedroom wall.
Castro, 52, was arrested by Texas Rangers on 29 May after Minnesota issued a warrant. Minnesota officials then sought his extradition, but Texas Governor Greg Abbott did not sign the necessary warrant.
A federal judge in Texas rejected Minnesota’s request to keep Castro in custody while the extradition dispute continued. He was released from the Cameron County detention centre on 27 August, and his current whereabouts were not immediately clear.
The federal case marks a rare instance of the Justice Department pursuing criminal charges against an immigration enforcement officer over conduct alleged to have occurred while on duty. Castro is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
