Share A federal judge in New York has ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents falsified official records and gave false testimony after wrongly arresting a man during an immigration operation in the Bronx. US District Judge Gary R. Brown, who was appointed to the bench by President Donald Trump, found the arrest of Angel Jesus Almonte illegal and provisionally granted his habeas corpus petition. In a 28-page opinion, Brown wrote: “The claims of misidentification here prove baseless, the arrests were procedurally deficient and legally invalid, and ICE agents falsified official records trying to conceal their illegal actions.” Almonte was detained in May during an operation targeting a man named Dario Santos-Amarante. The judge highlighted stark physical differences between the two men: Almonte is six feet tall and weighs 180 pounds, while Santos-Amarante is five foot seven and 110 pounds. The enforcement team’s leader admitted that photographs made it “very easy to see they’re two different people.” The same operation also led to the arrest of Jeury Concepcion, a US citizen who was mistaken for the target. His arrest was described as extremely violent, leaving him with head injuries that required stitches. Brown found that Almonte was arrested before his immigration status had been established and before an administrative warrant was issued. The warrant later claimed that biometric confirmation and database checks showed he was removable, but a supervisor testified that five database searches had initially returned negative results. The judge called the warrant’s claims “undeniably false” and said it had been prepared after the detention “in an attempt to rationalize their actions.” The judge also ruled that a certificate of service signed by team leader Katepodis was false, and said testimony about alleged drug transactions bore “all the hallmarks of coordinated fabrication.” Officers had given conflicting accounts of the target’s criminal history, while official records showed only motor vehicle charges and no drug offences. Brown ordered the government to explain within 21 days how it will address the problems identified in the ruling, warning that he could consider sanctions, referrals or contempt proceedings. Newsweek, which first reported the decision, said it had contacted the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and Almonte’s legal team for comment. You May Like