Judge orders man cleared of Bovino murder-for-hire plot be released or given bond hearing
A federal judge has ruled that the man cleared of offering $10,000 for the murder of Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino must be released from custody or given a bond hearing by Wednesday.
Juan Espinoza Martinez was found not guilty last month the one count of murder for hire that he had faced.
Espinoza Martinez was taken into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shortly after the verdict as the Trump administration moved to deport him, accusing him of being in the country illegally. He's now being held in a jail in southern Indiana.
Two days ago, U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon temporarily barred the Trump administration from deporting Espinoza Martinez, ruling he's likely entitled to a bond hearing that could lead to his release.
On Friday, Hanlon ordered the Trump administration to grant him a bond hearing by Wednesday or release him from custody, after ruling it would be illegal to continue detaining him without a bond hearing.
It would be up to an immigration judge to examine Espinoza Martinez's case and determine whether he's a flight risk or a danger to the community.
Federal prosecutors have accused Espinoza Martinez of offering a $10,000 bounty for the murder of Bovino, who was the face of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement effort in the Chicago area last year. A jury took about three hours to acquit him following his trial last month.
After his arrest, federal authorities accused him of being a high-ranking Latin Kings gang member, but no such evidence was ever presented in court, and his attorneys have said he has no gang ties and no criminal history.
