ICE agent arrested, makes first court appearance in Minneapolis shooting case
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Christian Castro was arrested in Minneapolis and appeared in Hennepin County District Court Thursday on charges stemming from a January shooting that wounded a man inside a north Minneapolis home.
"The process of holding Mr. Castro accountable for firing his weapon through a front door, striking Julio Sosa-Celis, endangering the lives of others, and falsely reporting a crime has begun," Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. "Every defendant, including Mr.Castro, is entitled to a fair trial and he will receive one. My thoughts today are with the victims whose lives were upended because of this incident."
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension arrested Castro Wednesday afternoon in downtown Minneapolis on an active warrant. He had recently returned to Minnesota after spending about three months in a Texas jail while the state sought his extradition.
A judge set bail Thursday at $400,000 unconditional and $200,000 with conditions, including Castro have no contact with witnesses, possess no weapons, surrender his passport and submit to electronic monitoring. He also must remain under supervised release and sign a waiver of extradition.
Castro faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. He also faces a federal charge for making false statements to an FBI agent investigating the shooting. The case is the first federal prosecution of an agent connected to Operation Metro Surge.
Castro is scheduled to appear in federal court in St. Paul on Friday. His next state court appearance is Nov. 3.
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