An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer accused of lying to the FBI about a January shooting in Minneapolis pleaded not guilty Friday to six federal counts of making materially false statements.
Christian Castro appeared in federal court in St. Paul after prosecutors accused him of shooting 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg through the front door of a Minneapolis home during Operation Metro Surge.
Castro told investigators he opened fire after being attacked with a broom and shovel, but prosecutors say surveillance footage contradicted that account.
Castro, 52, appeared in court wearing an ankle monitor. A judge ordered him to travel only between Minnesota and South Texas and to report any altercation with law enforcement within 72 hours. He was released after the hearing.
Castro had previously been held in Texas custody for about 90 days, in part because Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declined to sign an extradition warrant that would have handed him over to Minnesota authorities. He was booked in Minnesota last week following his release in Texas, his home state, where he had been required to wear an ankle monitor and surrender his passport and guns. He faces both federal and state charges tied to the shooting.
Prosecutors say Castro lied about the circumstances of the shooting, which took place during Operation Metro Surge, part of the Trump administration’s broader immigration enforcement push in Minnesota. The operation brought thousands of federal agents into the state, resulted in sweeping arrests, and included the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens.
Minnesota authorities and the Trump administration have disputed who has jurisdiction to prosecute Castro, with federal officials arguing the case belongs to them alone.
