Immigration authorities have taken into custody the man acquitted this week of a murder-for-hire plot aimed at U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino.
Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, was taken into custody Friday morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, attorney Jonathan Bedi confirmed for the Chicago Sun-Times.
That was less than 24 hours after a federal jury found Espinoza Martinez not guilty of one count of murder-for-hire, which carried a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow entered an order that said Espinoza Martinez “shall be released as soon as practical after processing.” But Espinoza Martinez’s attorneys had already acknowledged an immigration detainer that would likely be acted upon.
A man by Espinoza Martinez’s name was being held Saturday at the Clay County Justice Center in Brazil, Indiana, records show.
Espinoza Martinez now faces deportation despite the courtroom victory Thursday by his attorneys, Bedi and Dena Singer, who insisted on a speedy trial immediately after his indictment.
“This case is exactly why we have juries and an example of the power of the jury trial,” Bedi and Singer said in a statement Friday. “Twelve ordinary citizens stood between an overreaching government and an innocent man. They demanded proof, not politics. That’s the jury system working exactly as the founders intended.”
Espinoza Martinez has lived in Chicago for 30 years, has three children and worked for his brother’s construction company for the last decade, according to his attorneys.
“For the past decade, he has worked steadily with his brother in construction, building a reputation and livelihood inextricably tied to this community,” Bedi and Singer wrote in December. “He has no passport. He has no property outside Illinois. … His entire existence, his family, his work, his home, every meaningful connection in his life, is rooted in this district.
Federal prosecutors told jurors this week that law enforcement had no interest in Espinoza Martinez until he sent a message via Snapchat to Adrian Jimenez, who turned out to be a longtime law enforcement informant.
It followed a picture of Bovino and read, “2k on info cuando lo agarren,” “10k if u take him down,” and “LK … on him.”
Jimenez testified that he understood that to mean “$2,000 when they grab him … $10,000 if you kill him … Latin Kings are on him.” He said he immediately turned it over to authorities.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Minje Shin told jurors “the crime here was complete the moment he sent those words. Because he had the intent that a murder take place when he sent those words.”
Prosecutors also pointed to separate messages Espinoza Martinez sent to his brother, including “10k for his head” below a picture of Bovino, along with “dead or alive” and “s–t serious.”
Though federal authorities originally accused Espinoza Martinez of being a “high-ranking member of the Latin Kings,” prosecutors did not set out to prove it at trial. Without that claim, Lefkow barred gang-related evidence from the trial.
Bedi and Singer pointed out to jurors that no money exchanged hands. No weapons were purchased. And social media “is riddled with things that aren’t true,” Singer said.
“You should demand that there’s other evidence before you can convict somebody for this,” she told them.
“The government has failed to prove their case,” Singer said. “You know it.”
