United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested two people at the Champaign County Courthouse on Tuesday, according to Champaign County Public Defender Elizabeth Pollock.
Pollock identified those arrested as Fernando Lorenzo-Raymundo and Carlos Gomez, the immigration status of whom are unknown to The Daily Illini.
“The ICE agents waited for them outside the courtroom,” Pollock said. “I never did personally see a warrant, but I was not down there myself.”
Gomez and Lorenzo-Raymundo were both on pretrial release when they were arrested, according to Pollock.
According to Champaign County Circuit Court documents, Lorenzo-Raymundo stands charged with failure to report a crash causing death, a felony, following a fatal hit-and-run accident on March 4. Lorenzo-Raymundo is represented by James A. Martinkus, a partner at Erwin, Martinkus, & Cole, a local law firm.
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Champaign County Circuit Court documents show Gomez is facing one count of aggravated driving under the influence with a suspended or revoked license, a felony. He is represented by Assistant Public Defender Howard Zheng.
The Daily Illini attempted to reach ICE’s Office of Public Affairs for comment by phone and email but has not received a response.
UPDATE: April 1, 4:50 p.m. —
The Daily Illini spoke with Martinkus. According to him, Lorenzo-Raymundo was detained after leaving the courtroom for his pending criminal case.
“After the appearance when we vacated the premises of the courtroom, I think four or five ICE agents took him and that’s where we are right now,” Martinkus said.
Martinkus said that neither he nor his client were given further information by the agents.
“I don’t think (ICE) did inform him much,” Martinkus said. “They didn’t really speak Spanish. My client only speaks very little English, so I don’t think they’d have the ability, from whom they sent, to explain any of that to him. They didn’t explain anything to me either.”
Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman confirmed the arrest and said that they followed federal regulations and did not impede the arrest.
“The sheriffs did not really have any involvement in it … We can’t impede from the investigation so we just stood by basically,” Heuerman said.
**This is a developing story, check back for updates.**
