Trump-Appointed Judge Says ICE Agents Falsified Records After Illegal Arrests

A Trump-appointed federal judge found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made illegal arrests during a Bronx operation, falsified official records, and gave apparently false testimony after arresting a man they had mistaken for someone else.

U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown issued the findings Monday, October 5, 2026, in the case of Angel Jesus Almonte, who was arrested without a warrant during a May 6 ICE operation targeting two other men. The same team also arrested Jeury Concepcion, a U.S. citizen who suffered head injuries requiring stitches.

“The claims of misidentification here prove baseless; the arrests were procedurally deficient and legally invalid, and ICE agents falsified official records trying to conceal their illegal actions,” Brown wrote.

The physical descriptions differed sharply. Almonte stood about six feet tall and weighed 180 pounds, while the man agents said they initially confused him with was listed as 5-foot-7 and 110 pounds.

Photographs shown during testimony made the distinction even clearer. An ICE team leader acknowledged that it was “very easy to see they’re two different people.”

Agents continued holding Almonte after confirming his identity. ICE later produced an administrative arrest warrant that Brown found contained false statements about database searches and biometric confirmation purportedly used to establish Almonte’s immigration status.

In the ruling, Brown referred to the document as a “fraudulent arrest warrant.”

The hearing also examined agents’ claims that they had watched Almonte conduct approximately eight to 10 hand-to-hand drug transactions before taking him into custody.

Brown called that testimony “apparently perjurious” and said it bore “all the hallmarks of coordinated fabrication.” Agents recovered no drugs, cash or drug paraphernalia from Almonte.

Minutes after Almonte’s arrest, the same ICE team encountered Concepcion. Video showed a masked agent running toward the U.S. citizen with a gun drawn before officers took him into custody. Concepcion suffered head injuries that required stitches.

The case reached Brown through Almonte’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention. After the government disputed his account, Brown held an evidentiary hearing and heard testimony from the ICE agents involved in the operation.

Trump nominated Brown to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in 2019, and the Senate confirmed him that December. President Barack Obama had previously nominated Brown to the same court, but that nomination expired without confirmation.

Brown provisionally granted Almonte’s habeas petition and ordered the government to respond within 21 days with the steps it intends to take following the court’s findings. The judge said the response could determine whether the court considers sanctions, referrals, or contempt proceedings.