Trump-Appointed Judge Finds ICE Agents Fabricated Records to Justify a Wrongful Arrest

U.S. District Judge Gary Brown, a Trump appointee in the Eastern District of New York, ruled October 5, 2026, that ICE agents falsified records to cover up the wrongful May 6 arrest of Angel Jesus Almonte in the Bronx. Agents said they had mistaken Almonte for another man, but Brown found a supervisor checked boxes certifying that database searches confirmed Almonte lacked legal status, when those searches had actually come back negative; he called the arrest warrant "substantially false." A team leader admitted under questioning that he had falsely certified serving the warrant on Almonte and reading it to him in Spanish. Agents also wrongly arrested a U.S. citizen, Jeury Concepcion, in the same operation, in what Brown called an "extremely violent" arrest that left him needing stitches.

Brown provisionally granted Almonte's habeas petition and gave the government 21 days to explain how it will fix the problems identified, saying he may consider sanctions or contempt proceedings. The ruling does not itself establish that any officer committed perjury.