A Harris County grand jury has indicted a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly striking an illegal alien with a vehicle.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Aaron Reitz called the decision by Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare a “political prosecution of an ICE agent for doing his job.”
Earlier this month, ICE said Officer Mario Alberto Morales and other agents were pursuing Mexican national Jose Mendoza-Cervantes during an operation in which Morales struck Miguel Parra-Hernandez with a vehicle.
According to a statement released by ICE, Mendoza-Cervantes was arrested four times prior to the pursuit for drunken driving charges, one time for unlawful possession of a firearm, and had been deported twice before.
Teare said Friday that Mendoza-Cervantes had apparently been dead for nine years.
Parra-Hernandez, 48, “has been living in Texas for more than 30 years without documentation,” according to Teare.
During the pursuit, the Mexican nationals exited their vehicle and fled on foot. Morales pursued the two individuals in his vehicle and struck Parra-Hernandez. According to reports, Parra-Hernandez sustained multiple fractures that required surgery.
“Morales aggressively steered his vehicle into Parra-Hernandez,” Teare claimed.
ICE has disputed that account, saying Parra-Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle during the pursuit.
Teare has also raised questions about Morales’ qualifications.
“I can unequivocally tell you, I reviewed thousands of job applications and resumes from law enforcement officers from around this state. I’m not familiar with a single law agency that would have hired [Morales], based on his past,” Teare stated.
Federal officials have condemned the indictment against Morales.
ICE told The Associated Press that the indictment was “a political stunt,” calling the allegations that Parra-Hernandez was struck intentionally “RECKLESS and FALSE.”
In a post to X on Friday, Reitz called the actions from Teare a determination “to put a different federal agent’s scalp on the wall” stemming from “his inability [to] swiftly bring charges in the tragic Salgado shooting in July.”
“I have personally conducted a preliminary review of the facts and law. Given what I know, I see no basis for federal charges at this time,” Reitz wrote. “Federal agents should not be turned into political trophies for doing the difficult and dangerous work of enforcing federal law. We stand with ICE and all our federal law enforcement partners.”
If convicted on the state charge, Morales could be facing a prison sentence between two and 20 years, according to Teare.
