A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer pleaded not guilty to charges that he lied to federal law enforcement about being attacked prior to shooting a Venezuelan man during an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota early this year.
Officer Christian Castro made his plea on Sept. 18 before a U.S. magistrate judge. Castro was charged with six federal counts of making false statements concerning the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.
This plea came the day after an appearance in state court, where he was accused of assault and several other crimes.
Castro, 52, was charged by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty on May 18 with two counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime relating to the incident during Operation Metro Surge in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area….