Man shot in Minneapolis by ICE agent devastated by his jail release, attorney says

The attorney for Julio Sosa-Celis, the Venezuelan national who was shot by federal immigration officer Christian Castro earlier this year in north Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge, says her client is devastated by his release from a Texas jail.

Castro, who works for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was released last week after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott didn't sign an extradition warrant sought by Minnesota prosecutors before a 90-day holding period expired.

Manny Treviño, the sheriff of Cameron County, Texas, said he released Castro without restrictions, adding it was done in accordance with state law.

Court documents allege Castro shot Sosa-Celis through the door of this home on Jan. 14, then lied to investigators. Ultimately, surveillance video threw the accounts of Castro and other officers into doubt.

Robin Wolpert, Sosa-Celis' attorney, says that evidence was crucial.

"Everyone thought that my client had done something wrong, had broken the law, when in fact he was the victim and a witness to a very serious crime by a federal official," Wolper said. 

She says the waiting has taken a toll on her client, and the stakes are even higher now. 

"We are concerned about the risk that he would flee to Mexico and then wholly evade justice and accountability," Wolpert said.

Despite being a flight risk, Wolpert says she's "hopeful" Castro will eventually end up in a Minnesota courtroom.

"For my client, it was devastating. You know, his understanding of things is that the law just doesn't seem to be working, right? Because how can it be that someone who shot him and who is now in Texas isn't gonna be brought to justice?" Wolpert said. "That's just confusing, I think, for ordinary citizens who aren't lawyers, trying to understand how this injustice could keep going and going and going."

Castro has been suspended without pay by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as the investigation continues.

The shooting of Sosa-Celis happened one week after ICE officer Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good in south Minneapolis, and 10 days before Alex Pretti was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents about a mile away.