Federal prosecutors on Thursday dropped charges against a woman who was shot by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood last month.

At a brief hearing at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis dismissed the indictment against 30-year-old Marimar Martinez and her co-defendant, 21-year-old Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, granting federal prosecutors' motion to drop the case. The charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning prosecutors cannot refile them in the future.  

In a statement on the decision to dismiss the charges, U.S. Attorney's office spokesman Joseph Fitzpatrick said in a statement that federal prosecutors are "constantly evaluating new facts and information relating to cases and investigations arising out of Operation Midway Blitz, the largest ever law enforcement surge in the Northern District of Illinois."

"This continuous review process applies to all matters—whether charged or under investigation. It helps ensure that the interests of justice are served in each and every case, and that those cases that are charged are appropriately adjudicated through our federal court system," he added.

Federal prosecutors have said the pair were part of a group of vehicles that "boxed in" federal immigration agents near Kedzie Avenue and Pershing Road on Oct. 4, before Martinez and Ruiz allegedly rammed one agent's vehicle. The Justice Department has said agents got out and fired five shots at Martinez, who was still inside her car at the time.

Martinez's attorney said federal prosecutors did the right thing by dropping the charges.

"These agents were lying about what happened. Ms. Martinez never rammed anybody. These agents hit Ms. Martinez. These agents jumped out and shot Ms. Martinez, a U.S. citizen, whose only crime was warning her fellow community members that ICE was in the neighborhood," attorney Christopher Parente said. "That is not a crime. She didn't deserve to be shot."

Martinez thanked the judge, her attorneys, her family, and others for their support as she fought the charges against her.

"I'm just happy. I'm excited," she said.

Parente said prosecutors' agreement to drop charges against Martinez is only the first step in getting her justice. While he did not say what the next step would be, he said Martinez' vehicle is now part of an investigation with a separate U.S. Attorney's office – not involving Martinez herself – and he said he's confident the agent who shot her will ultimately be held responsible for wrongly shooting her.

"He's going to pay for those shots. They were not good shots. You will see, eventually, that that was a bad shoot. It was a violation of CBP's use of force policy, and he is going to pay for those shots, and he is not going to be as proud and as arrogant as he was when he testified in this courthouse a few weeks ago," Parente said.

In a court filing, her attorneys pointed to body camera video they said shows the agent turned his wheel and caused the crash before he jumped out of the car and started shooting.

That video has not been made public.

Parente also has rgued that crucial evidence was tampered with when federal authorities allowed the agent to drive his car back to Maine after the shooting, rather than holding it as evidence.

Meantime, federal prosecutors on Thursday also dismissed charges against 70-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, who was arrested in September during protests in Broadview.

He was accused of making contact with a federal agent while handing his cell phone to another protester as he was taken into custody for ignoring orders to clear the street.

He was initially charged with felony assaulting or resisting federal agents, but the charges were downgraded to a misdemeanor in October. All charges against him have now been dropped.