Chicago man cleared in Border Patrol bounty trial now faces immigration proceedings

CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago carpenter cleared of accusations that he put a $10,000 bounty on the life of a Border Patrol commander has been taken into immigration custody and faces deportation, attorneys confirmed Tuesday.

Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, was acquitted of one count of murder-for-hire last week. Within 24 hours, he was picked up by federal immigration agents, said defense attorneys Jonathan Bedi and Dena Singer.

Born in Mexico, Espinoza Martinez was brought to the U.S. as a young child, according to a videotaped interview played during the short trial. His immigration status was not part of the first criminal trial stemming from the Chicago immigration crackdown.

Defense attorneys said the federal government, which referred to Espinoza Martinez as a “criminal illegal alien,” engaged in “character assassination.” Prosecutors accused Espinoza Martinez of being a “ranking” member of the Latin Kings, but the claim quickly unraveled when they didn’t present evidence and a judge barred mentions of the street gang at trial.

“This verdict is a reminder that juries see through political prosecutions. They demand real evidence, not speculation and character assassination,” Bedi and Singer said in a joint statement. “The government didn’t have it. They never did.”

Espinoza Martinez, a married father of three, was arrested in October.

His wife, Bianca Hernandez, told the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program that’s shielded hundreds of thousands of people from deportation if they meet certain criteria, including no criminal history. However, Espinoza Martinez was not able to reapply in 2020 due to financial hardship, according to family.

“We were very, very happy because we knew that he didn’t do anything,” Hernandez told the Tribune. “But at the same time, it is a very bittersweet victory because he doesn’t actually get to come home.”

She did not return messages left this week by The Associated Press.

Espinoza Martinez was charged in October as the city of 2.7 million and surrounding suburbs were seeing a surge of federal immigration agents. Protests and standoffs with immigration officers were common, particularly in the city’s heavily Mexican Little Village neighborhood where Espinoza Martinez lived.

He was accused of sending Snapchat messages to his brother and a friend who turned out to be a longtime government informant. One read in part “10k if u take him down,” along with a picture of Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official who has led aggressive crackdowns nationwide, including in the Chicago area.

After the verdict, the Department of Homeland Security dismissed the decision by the jury, which deliberated less than four hours.

“This verdict does not change the facts: Espinoza targeted federal law enforcement with violence via Snapchat,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. She referred further questions to the Department of Justice. An agency spokeswoman declined comment citing “confidentiality protections.”

The case has fueled skepticism about the Trump administration’s narratives surrounding the immigration enforcement surges. Of the roughly 30 criminal cases stemming from Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area, roughly half have been dismissed or dropped.