Feds turn over evidence in killings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti by immigration agents

Minnesota prosecutors announced on Monday, July 13, they obtained a trove of evidence from the federal government in the killings of two U.S. citizens — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — and the shooting of Venezuelan national Julio Sosa-Celis by federal immigration agents during Operation Metro Surge.

The evidence includes body camera footage, officer statements and the Honda Pilot in which Good was killed, all of which the federal government had previously refused to turn over in a major breach of the tradition of cooperation between state and federal law enforcement agencies.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the evidence allows her office to fully evaluate whether criminal charges are warranted in the January killings in Minneapolis.

“We will be thorough. We will be complete, and we will make a decision,” Moriarty said.

Moriarty and Attorney General Keith Ellison have been weighing criminal charges against the officers across the two killings but say they’d been hindered until now by the federal government’s obstruction.

Moriarty’s office has charged Christian Castro in the shooting of Sosa-Celis with four felony counts of second-degree assault as well as a misdemeanor charge of falsely reporting a crime in the shooting of Sosa-Celis. He was arrested in Texas and remains in custody in a jail in Cameron County.

“I want to thank our federal partners for their willingness to consider changing course to share evidence and promote public trust,” Moriarty said during a Monday news conference. “The collective effort from our staff, the Attorney General’s Office, and the (Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension) to make this happen is staggering.”

Moriarty and Ellison sent multiple demands for evidence to federal authorities before taking the unprecedented step of suing the federal government in March seeking access to evidence. The state also solicited the public for evidence, collecting more than 1,000 submissions.

Even with the release of evidence, which Moriarty said the state began receiving two weeks ago, she and Ellison are not yet ready to dismiss their lawsuit against the feds. That signals some disputes remain.

What prompted the striking reversal in the federal government’s opposition to evidence sharing wasn’t immediately clear.

The agreement did involve state authorities turning over their own evidence in the three shootings to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which may have been valuable enough to promote cooperation.

According to the lawsuit seeking evidence, an attorney from the Department of Justice’s Washington office flew to Minnesota in early February for a meeting. But the attorney told the BCA that the federal government wanted the BCA to share its evidence in the Pretti killing investigation, while the federal government would not share its evidence with the BCA.

Moriarty said she didn’t know if the change was prompted by the White House, which opposed cooperation in the Good shooting. President Trump justified icing out local authorities by calling Minnesota officials “crooked.” A request for comment from the White House was directed to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not immediately respond.

The U.S. Senate is also scheduled this week to take up confirmation hearings for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who said there would be no civil rights investigation into Good’s killing.

“We are just extremely grateful that they recognized the need to get back to what’s normal here,” Moriarty said.

The BCA has historically investigated shootings by law enforcement officials but was blocked by federal authorities from collecting evidence and participating in the investigations in the three shootings by immigration agents.

The state didn’t even officially have the names of the officers who killed Good and Pretti. The Star Tribune first reported the identity of Good’s killer as ICE agent Jonathan Ross. ProPublica reported the agents who killed Pretti are Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez.

Asked about the identities of the officers, Moriarty deferred to the BCA.

BCA Superintendent Drew Evans declined to comment on specific evidence received but said in a statement that “great strides have been made in ensuring both state and federal authorities have access to pertinent information.”

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

Later on Monday, an attorney for the Pretti family said U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen would not confirm a cooperation agreement between state and federal agencies in a meeting.

“Without a public commitment by federal authorities to cooperate with the state, it is difficult – if not, impossible – to pursue justice that holds the individuals accountable for Alex’s death,” attorney Steve Schleicher said in a statement.

The attorney for Good’s family, Antonio Romanucci, said the transfer of evidence was an “important and meaningful step towards justice and accountability.”

The announcement of the evidence handoff came as news broke that a 26-year-old man was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Maine, marking at least the ninth killing by federal agents since the start of Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Prosecuting federal agents isn’t easy — they have some protections under the Supremacy Clause for reasonably carrying out their duties, though legal experts note they are not immune from charges for serious misconduct.

Moriarty’s office has also filed felony assault charges against ICE agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr.faces for allegedly pointing a gun at two unnamed victims in a car while he was driving an unmarked SUV. Morgan has filed to remove the case to federal court.

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