Judge finds ICE agents falsified records and gave false testimony in Bronx arrest

Mixed · 2U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown of the Eastern District of New York ruled on Monday 5 October that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents falsified official records and gave false or misleading testimony after illegally arresting Angel Jesus Almonte in the Bronx, and he provisionally granted Almonte's habeas petition challenging his detention. 1 2 Mixed · 2ICE agents arrested Almonte during a May 6 operation, saying they had mistaken him for a target, but ICE's own records showed the man they were seeking was five inches shorter and 80 pounds lighter; the team leader, John Katepodis, conceded it was "very easy to see they're two different people." 2 1 Mixed · 2The same team arrested Jeury Concepcion, a U.S. citizen, on the same block, saying they had mistaken him for another target; video showed a masked agent approaching him with a gun drawn, and he suffered head injuries requiring stitches. Brown called the arrest "extremely violent." 2 1

Mixed · 2At a June bail hearing, three officers testified they saw Almonte make quick hand-to-hand exchanges before his arrest. Deportation Officer Kevin Brodowsky said he saw "baggies" swapped for money from about 100 feet away, while Deportation Officer Zamir Yassin, who was closest, said he did not actually see anything in Almonte's hand. 2 1 Mixed · 2No drugs, cash or drug supplies were found on Almonte, ICE's arrest report did not mention the alleged transactions, and Brown said the testimony bore "all the hallmarks of coordinated fabrication" and was "apparently perjurious." 2 1 Centre · 1Newsweek noted that the findings concern the evidence before Brown and that the ruling is not itself a criminal finding that any officer committed perjury. 1

Mixed · 2Agents handcuffed Almonte without a warrant. An ICE supervisor, Brenden Cuni, found nothing after searching five federal databases, yet signed an administrative warrant checking boxes saying biometric data and database records confirmed Almonte's identity and lack of legal status. Brown called it a "fraudulent arrest warrant" and "undeniably false"; a later search found Almonte only because ICE had by then entered his information into the system. 2 1 Mixed · 2Katepodis also signed a sworn certificate saying he had served the warrant on Almonte in the Bronx and read it to him in Spanish, but he did not have the warrant and someone else served it in Manhattan; he admitted at the hearing that the certificate was false. 2 1 Mixed · 2Brown also pointed to the officers' limited experience and to training and practices, including a database-search process he said appeared "designed to generate misleading information in official records," and warned that a lack of training and pressure to raise arrest numbers was "a proverbial recipe for disaster." 1 2

Mixed · 2Brown gave ICE 21 days to propose changes, including possible discipline, before deciding whether to impose sanctions, refer the matter to other authorities or use contempt powers. Newsweek said it had asked the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and Almonte's lawyers for comment; no response was reported. 2 1 Centre · 1Newsweek noted that Brown was appointed to the federal bench by President Donald Trump. 1