A federal judge on Thursday barred from trial any testimony that a man accused of offering a $10,000 bounty on U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino has ties to any Chicago street gang, or even that he had an affinity for a gang.
The ruling comes in the case of Juan Espinoza Martinez, once accused by prosecutors of being a ranking member of the Latin Kings. That was back in October, at the height of the deportation campaign led by Bovino known as “Operation Midway Blitz.”
Despite that claim, prosecutors last week acknowledged that they would not try to prove at trial that Espinoza Martinez was a member of the Latin Kings. However, they said, “we absolutely have to have evidence of what his affinity and his relationship to the Latin Kings was.”
U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow turned them down Thursday.
“Without evidence showing that [Espinoza Martinez] is a member of the Latin Kings or that the Latin Kings instructed [Espinoza Martinez] to send the alleged murder-for-hire information, the prejudicial nature of such testimony outweighs any probative value,” Lefkow wrote in an order on the court’s docket.
Lefkow also denied a request from prosecutors that she allow a key witness, identified only as an anonymous “source of information,” to testify without disclosing his full name. The feds had cited a social media post that had been taken as a threat.
“If the government seriously considers the [source of information] to be in danger, it has a duty and the means to protect such a witness through security measures provided through the Marshals Service,” Lefkow wrote.
However, the judge said that person may testify about “how he received” a message allegedly sent to him by Espinoza Martinez, and what he took it to mean.
It’s unclear where that leaves the case against Espinoza Martinez, which is set for trial Tuesday. Lefkow has also barred evidence from the trial that Espinoza Martinez’s home is in “Latin King territory.”
Lawyers in the case did not immediately comment on Thursday’s rulings.
Prosecutors say Espinoza Martinez sent the “source of information” a picture of Bovino by Snapchat in early October. A message that allegedly followed that said, “2k on info cuando lo agarren,” “10k if u take him down,” and “LK … on him.”
Authorities say that meant Espinoza Martinez had offered a $2,000 reward for information about Bovino, as well as a $10,000 reward for his murder, while indicating the Latin Kings were involved.
Prosecutors have also pointed to text messages in which Espinoza Martinez allegedly wrote, “my guys are ready in the vill,” “saints, sds, and 2six being b—-es,” “Chapo has our back bro. if they they take one its gunna be bad,” and “sinaloa dont f— around.”