A man accused of plotting to murder a senior US border patrol official has been found not guilty in Chicago, marking another high-profile federal prosecution to collapse in court. Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, was acquitted on Thursday after a jury deliberated for less than four hours.
Prosecutors alleged that Espinoza Martinez offered a $10,000 bounty over Snapchat in October for the killing of Gregory Bovino, the border patrol leader behind aggressive immigration operations in cities nationwide. However, defence lawyers argued that the message was innocuous social media chatter, not a genuine threat.
The verdict is an embarrassment for federal prosecutors in the first criminal trial stemming from the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in the Chicago area. It follows dozens of collapsed cases linked to immigration enforcement across the country, including the acquittal of a Los Angeles protester in September who also faced charges related to Bovino.
Espinoza Martinez faced up to 10 years in prison for murder-for-hire. The government's case relied on Snapchat messages he sent to his brother and a friend who was a paid informant. One read, '10k if u take him down', alongside a picture of Bovino. Defence lawyers said there was no evidence he intended to carry out or pay for the killing, describing the messages as 'neighbourhood gossip' sent after work over beers.
Prosecutors portrayed Espinoza Martinez as 'fixated and obsessed' with Bovino, but the defence countered that he was a carpenter and family man upset by immigration raids. Neither Espinoza Martinez nor Bovino testified. The defendant's brother said he took the messages as a joke. The judge barred testimony about alleged gang ties due to lack of evidence.
Espinoza Martinez, a Mexican-born resident of Chicago without citizenship, told investigators he was confused by the charges and had sent the messages without much thought. His lawyers expressed gratitude to the jurors, saying he had been away from his wife and three children for too long.
