The fate of a Chicago man accused of using Snapchat to offer a $10,000 bounty on a top Border Patrol commander has been placed in the hands of a federal jury.
Juan Espinoza Martinez, a 37-year-old carpenter, faces a single count of murder-for-hire. Prosecutors say he sent messages that read in part “10k if u take him down,” accompanied by a picture of Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official who led aggressive crackdowns nationwide. In closing arguments, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Yonan told jurors the words were not a joke: “Those words have meaning. They are not innocent and harmless words.”
But defence attorney Dena Singer argued that the messages were “neighbourhood gossip” sent after work over beers, and that there was no evidence Espinoza Martinez followed up or had the means to pay. “Sending a message about gossip that you heard in the neighbourhood, it’s not murder for hire,” she said. If convicted, Espinoza Martinez faces up to 10 years in prison.
Espinoza Martinez was arrested in October during the Chicago-area immigration crackdown. Federal prosecutors initially described him as a “ranking member” of the Latin Kings, but U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow barred testimony about the gang due to lack of evidence. His brother, Oscar, testified that he took the Snapchat messages as a joke and something he had already seen on Facebook.
The case is the first criminal trial from the Chicago-area immigration surge. Of roughly 30 federal cases stemming from Operation Midway Blitz, charges have been dismissed or dropped in about half. Several federal lawsuits have fuelled skepticism about Department of Homeland Security narratives, and a judge found Bovino lied under oath in a separate civil case.
