BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a contempt case against an agent for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement whose arrest of a man during his trial sparked criticism among the law enforcement community in Boston.
ICE agent Brian Sullivan took Wilson Martell-Lebron, 49, into custody last month as he was leaving court. Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville found Sullivan in contempt, arguing that he deprived Martell-Lebron of his rights to due process and fair trial.
But on Monday, U.S. District Judge William Young dismissed the case after the Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell agreed with U.S. Attorney Leah Foley that the contempt order should be vacated.
“While you might disagree with the enforcement of our federal immigration laws, there is simply no legal basis for you to hold federal officers in criminal contempt for carrying out their sworn duties,” Foley wrote to the municipal judge on April 2. “Any attempt or threat to interfere with the lawful functions of federal government agents will not be tolerated.”
Ryan Sullivan, one of the attorneys for Martell-Lebron, criticized the decision.
“We feel that the U.S. Attorney Foley’s position that a state should not investigate whether a federal agent exceeded the bounds of their authority is a chilling threat to Judges, prosecutors, and justice,” Sullivan wrote. “Perhaps Agent Sullivan acted within what is ‘necessary and proper’ in the performance of his duties. Or perhaps, as we contend, he did not. An investigation would have revealed that and answered these questions. Instead, the Federal Government told the State to cease and desist.”
Ryan Sullivan described a tense scene in which ICE agents pounced on Martell-Lebron without identifying themselves, put him into a pickup and sped away. The trial had begun with opening statements and the first witnesses.
The Justice Department said in its motion that agents including Brian Sullivan identified themselves and told Martell-Lebron to stop before detaining him.
Martell-Lebron, who is from the Dominican Republic and living with family in Massachusetts, is now at the Plymouth detention facility for allegedly being an undocumented immigrant. In its motion, the Justice Department alleged that Martell-Lebron is in the country illegally and has several criminal convictions for drug trafficking. It also said ICE has been trying to detain him since 2007.
After his arrest by ICE, Summerville dismissed a charge against Martell-Lebron of making false statements on his driver’s license application — namely that he was not Martell-Lebron.
A day later, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden lashed out at ICE over the arrest outside court.
“This action by ICE was troubling and extraordinarily reckless,” Hayden said. “As the judge noted, ICE’s actions deprived Mr. Martell-Lebron of his right to a fair trial. It also deprived our office of our intent to hold the defendant accountable for his alleged crime.”
Neither spokesman for Hayden nor a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office responded to a request for comment about the dropping of the contempt case.
Immigration officers were a growing presence at courthouses during Trump’s first term, prompting some pushback from judges and other local officials. Trump has gone further in his second term by repealing a policy in place since 2011 to generally avoid schools, places of worship and hospitals.
Under current policy, immigration officials can make arrests “in or near courthouses when they have credible information that leads them to believe the targeted alien(s) is or will be present” and as long as they are not prohibited by state or local law.
