Trump administration loses lawsuit against man accused of plot to murder Greg Bovino | Trump administration
A man accused in a murder-for-hire plot that targeted a top U.S. border patrol leader was found not guilty Thursday in Chicago; This was the last high-profile Justice Department prosecution to be overturned in court.
The government found that 37-year-old Juan Espinoza Martinez offered A $10,000 reward to Snapchat in October for the killing of Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol officer who led aggressive immigration operations in cities across the country. Defense attorneys argued that Espinoza Martinez shared a harmless social media message that did not pose a threat.
The jury’s acquittal after less than four hours of deliberation is an embarrassing outcome for federal prosecutors in the first criminal case stemming from the Trump administration’s massive crackdown in the Chicago area that began last year.
The decision comes later dozens The number of criminal cases related to immigration enforcement is dispersed throughout the country. In September, the first Los Angeles protester to go to trial in connection with demonstrations in Southern California against immigration raids was also acquitted in a case that featured direct testimony from Bovino.
Espinoza Martinez was facing 10 years in prison for murder-for-hire. When he was arrested last year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called him a “depraved” gang member and “thug,” and Bovino cited the incident as an example of the increasing dangers federal agents face.
DHS spokespeople did not immediately respond to questions.
The government’s case focused on Snapchat messages Espinoza Martinez sent to her younger brother and a friend who turned out to be a government informant. One read, “10 grand if you take him down,” along with a picture of Bovino.
“Those words do not indicate that this was a joke,” Jason Yonan, the Chicago area’s second-highest federal prosecutor, told jurors. “These words have a meaning. They are not innocent and harmless words.”
Defense lawyers say government failed produce any evidence Espinoza Martinez intended to kill Bovino or pay the price for it, claiming that Bovino sent the messages as “neighborhood gossip” after coming home from work and drinking beer. He didn’t follow up on messages and only had a few dollars in his bank account.
“Sending a message about rumors you hear in the neighborhood is not murder for hire,” defense attorney Dena Singer told jurors. “This is not a federal crime.”
Prosecutors accused Espinoza Martinez of being “fixated and obsessed” with Bovino and cited other messages in which she criticized the crackdown. Defense lawyers stated that Espinoza Martinez was a carpenter and family man and that he was disturbed by this situation. Immigration raid in the neighborhoodbut he wasn’t affiliated with gangs.
Neither Espinoza Martinez nor Bovino testified during the three-day hearing. The defendant’s brother, Oscar, stated that he received the Snapchat messages as a joke and that they were things he had seen on Facebook before.
The attorneys played clips of Espinoza Martinez’s interview with law enforcement; Here, Martinez said he was confused about the accusations and sent the messages without much thought while scrolling through social media.
“I didn’t threaten anyone,” he told investigators. “I’m not saying I told them to do that.”
Born in Mexico, he has lived in Chicago for years but has no citizenship.
Federal prosecutors initially referred to Espinoza Martinez as a “high-ranking member” of the Latin Kings, but a lack of evidence led the judge to bar testimony about the Chicago street gang at trial.
Singer pointed out holes in the government’s case, including the testimony of the first witness, Adrian Jimenez.
The 44-year-old actor, who owns a construction company, was in contact with Espinoza Martinez about the business via Snapchat. Unknown to Espinoza Martinez, he had also worked as a paid government informant for years and shared Snapchats with a federal investigator.
Jimenez, who had back problems, limped slowly toward the witness stand and needed help standing up.
“Would you hire a person who was in so much pain and could barely walk?” Singer told jurors. “This doesn’t make any sense.”
Multiple federal lawsuits in Chicago have raised doubts about DHS’s narrative. Of the approximately 30 criminal cases stemming from Operation Midway Blitz, charges were dismissed or dropped in about half. In a landmark case that forced Bovino to testify, a federal judge found that he lied under oath, including about allegations of gang threats.
In the botched trial of a Los Angeles protester accused of attacking a border patrol officer last year, Bovino was the only witness who claimed to have seen the attack, and defense attorneys accused him of trying to “cover up” the agent.
