Bronx Man Wrongly Arrested by ICE After Agents Falsified Records, Judge Finds
U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown, appointed by President Trump, ruled that ICE agents illegally arrested Angel Jesus Almonte during a May operation in the Bronx targeting Dario Santos-Amarante, despite striking physical differences between the two men. Brown's 28-page opinion found agents falsified arrest paperwork, including a "substantially false" administrative warrant prepared after Almonte's detention, and gave testimony about alleged drug transactions that bore "all the hallmarks of coordinated fabrication," while official records showed only motor vehicle charges. A supervisor testified that five database searches had initially returned negative results before the warrant falsely claimed biometric confirmation. The same operation also led to the violent arrest of U.S. citizen Jeury Concepcion, who suffered head injuries requiring stitches after being mistaken for the target; Brown provisionally granted Almonte's habeas petition and ordered the government to explain within 21 days how it will address the problems identified, while considering possible sanctions.
