ICE agent accused of shooting immigrant, coverup released from jail, following ruling

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged in Minnesota with shooting a Venezuelan immigrant and lying about it was released from a Texas jail on Thursday morning, after a federal judge blocked Minnesota's attempt to extradite him. 

Christian Castro was released from a detention center in Brownsville, CNN reported, citing an email from Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino. 

Minnesota argued that Gov. Greg Abbott's role in the case is ministerial and urged the judge to force the governor to return ICE agent Christian Castro, who was in Texas custody but wanted on state charges in Minnesota. Minnesota argued that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott acted in bad faith by waiting on the extradition request. 

Abbott countered that he was not obligated because Castro was not fleeing justice by leaving Minnesota since he was called back to Texas by ICE. 

U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. ruled that Abbott was within his authority to review Castro’s eligibility for extradition, and he found no evidence the governor was acting in bad faith.

Castro is charged in Minnesota with assault and falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 shooting of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. Prosecutors say Catro fired a gun through the front door of a Minneapolis home, shooting Sosa-Celis in the leg. Prosecutors also say Castro falsely claimed that Sosa-Celis and another man attacked an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel.