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Anonymous ID: 48ce5a Jan. 29, 2025, 6:39 a.m. No.22459093   🗄️.is 🔗kun

https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/indiana-man-fatally-shot-deputy-identified-jan-6

Indiana man fatally shot by sheriff's deputy identified as Jan. 6 defendant

Anonymous ID: 48ce5a Jan. 29, 2025, 6:55 a.m. No.22459163   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>9178 >>9188 >>9367 >>9473

https://abc7chicago.com/post/edward-martinez-cermeno-venezuelan-migrant-swept-ice-raids-chicago-area-ordered-released-federal-judge/15844932/

ICE arrestee from local weekend raid ordered released by federal judge

While President Donald Trump and immigration officials have touted violent criminals top the list of people arrested in recent arrest operations or raids, some cases reviewed by the ABC 7 I-Team show the opposite.

A majority of these new immigration arrest cases and federal court records are sealed from the public's view, but the I-Team found one case that went before a judge on Tuesday.

The court appearance ended with the judge ordering a Venezuelan migrant swept up in the immigration raids around Chicago this past weekend to be released from custody immediately, after immigration officials did not have the legal paperwork necessary for detaining and deporting him.

Edward Martinez-Cermeno, 24, was arrested in Schaumburg on Sunday on a misdemeanor charge of illegally entering the United States back in 2023.

Agents with the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), along with prosecutors, said Martinez-Cermano entered the U.S. illegally "by crossing the Rio Grande River… near Eagle Pass, Texas."

Martinez-Cermeno's federal defender said in court he fled Venezuela to the United States for his safety, after working as a police officer.

After crossing the border and making his way to Chicago, Martinez-Cermeno has been living with his girlfriend's parents, Maria and Ruben Occhipinti, the couple told the I-Team on Tuesday.

Walking the halls of Chicago's federal court building, the Occhipintis said they are still trying to shake off the trauma of what happened this past Sunday night, just before 8 p.m., when immigration agents appeared at their door for Martinez-Cermeno.

"They were pointing their guns at me and my husband, they knocked him down to the ground," Maria said, speaking in Spanish. "They just left without an explanation. They didn't show many, any documents. We were scared, we're all in crisis."

It's unclear what exactly led immigration agents to the Occhipintis' door on Sunday.

Cook County court records show Chicago police arrested Martinez-Cermeno for a felony retail theft charge in January 2024, and a warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to appear in court.

But Tuesday's hearing only dealt with the immigration charge he was arrested on – 8:1325(A)(1) or "improper entry by alien."

That charge is a misdemeanor, not a felony, and the magistrate judge determined that while the case proceeds, Martinez-Cermeno should be released.

The judge concluded Martinez-Cermeno was not a "serious flight risk" in part due to a pending asylum case that is scheduled to be heard in April 2026, and his ties to the community via the Occhipinti family.

After spending roughly 48 hours in federal custody - first at the HSI offices in Lombard, then at the MCC Chicago federal prison - Martinez-Cermeno is scheduled to be released from custody Tuesday evening.

While prosecutors mentioned that there is an "ICE detainer" for Martinez-Cermeno, and that ICE would likely take him into custody upon his release, the judge said this was legally unacceptable as ICE did not have the proper judicial warrant to detain him further, and that an ICE detainer is only a "civil request."