Christian Castro faces federal charges for allegedly lying to investigators regarding the January shooting of a Venezuelan man during an immigration enforcement operation.

Christian Castro, a 52-year-old Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, pleaded not guilty in a St. Paul, Minnesota, federal court on Friday. Prosecutors indicted Castro on six counts of making false statements to the FBI concerning the January 14 shooting of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. The incident occurred during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Allegations and Legal Proceedings

Prosecutors allege that Castro shot Sosa-Celis in the leg by firing through the front door of a Minneapolis home. According to Hennepin County District Attorney Mary Moriarty, the bullet lodged in the wall of a child's bedroom. Castro reportedly told investigators he fired his weapon after being attacked with a snow shovel and a broom handle, a claim prosecutors contend was fabricated to justify the shooting. In addition to the federal charges, Castro appeared in state court on Thursday, where he pleaded not guilty to four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. The federal indictment followed a period of legal disputes regarding Castro's extradition from Texas to Minnesota. He eventually returned to Minnesota voluntarily after being released from a Texas jail.

Context of the Incident

The shooting occurred during 'Operation Metro Surge,' an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Following the incident, federal charges were initially filed against Sosa-Celis and his acquaintance, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, though those charges were later dismissed. Both men were in the United States legally under the federal government's temporary protected status program. Castro, who has been suspended without pay by ICE, remains under court supervision with an electronic ankle monitor. His defense attorney, Daniel Gerdts, declined to comment on the case following the Friday hearing.