Feds unlawfully detaining man acquitted of Bovino murder-for-hire plot, judge rules

A federal judge in Indiana found Friday that immigration authorities are unlawfully detaining the Chicago man acquitted last month of offering $10,000 for the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino.

U.S. District Judge James Hanlon said Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, must either be released under reasonable conditions or have an opportunity for a bond hearing by 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Hanlon handed down a 16-page order that said little about Espinoza Martinez’s Chicago prosecution. Rather, Hanlon wrote that because Espinoza Martinez has not had a hearing in which an immigration judge could evaluate him as a flight risk or danger, his detention is unlawful.

The judge wrote that Espinoza Martinez is a Mexican citizen who entered the United States as a minor over 30 years ago, “without inspection or lawful admission.”

Homeland Security Investigations took Espinoza Martinez into custody Oct. 6 in connection with the alleged murder-for-hire plot, and he was “detained until his acquittal on Jan. 22, 2026,” the judge wrote.

Jurors in Chicago took roughly three hours to find Espinoza Martinez not guilty after a brief trial at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. He was taken into custody by immigration authorities the next day, and he’s since been detained at the Clay County Justice Center in Brazil, Indiana, records show.

Attorney Michael Adler filed a petition Monday in the Southern District of Indiana challenging Espinoza Martinez’s detention. Adler told the judge his client lived in Chicago for 30 years and worked for the last decade at his brother’s construction company.

“He has never been convicted of a crime,” Adler wrote. “He has never given anyone reason to doubt his character. Before this, Mr. Espinoza Martinez was simply a working man with deep roots in his community going to work and taking his children to their soccer games.”

Hanlon ordered the Trump administration Tuesday not to deport Espinoza Martinez while the litigation in Indiana played out.

Federal authorities originally accused Espinoza Martinez of being a “high-ranking member of the Latin Kings,” but prosecutors did not set out to prove it at trial. Without that claim, U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow barred gang-related evidence from Espinoza Martinez’s trial.

The case against Espinoza Martinez revolved around a message he sent someone via Snapchat. It followed a picture of Bovino and read, “2k on info cuando lo agarren,” “10k if u take him down,” and “LK … on him.”

The man who received the message, Adrian Jimenez, testified that he understood it to mean “$2,000 when they grab him … $10,000 if you kill him … Latin Kings are on him.” Jimenez said he immediately turned it over to authorities.

Bovino served as the face of the immigration campaign launched by the Trump administration in Chicago last year, Operation Midway Blitz.

Prosecutors also pointed to separate messages Espinoza Martinez sent to his brother, including “10k for his head” below a picture of Bovino, along with “dead or alive” and “s--t serious.”

But defense attorneys Jonathan Bedi and Dena Singer pointed out that no money exchanged hands. No weapons were purchased. And social media “is riddled with things that aren’t true,” Singer said.

“You should demand that there’s other evidence before you can convict somebody for this,” she told the jury.