Judge dismisses case against man detained by ICE mid-trial, finds agent in contempt

A state judge in Boston has dismissed a case against a man who was taken into federal custody in the middle of his criminal trial last week, citing prosecutorial misconduct, and found a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in contempt of court.

"This is a disturbing case. This is a case of obstruction of justice. It's a case of violating a defendant's right to be present at trial and confront witnesses against him. Couldn't be more serious," Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville said at the heated three-hour hearing.

William Martell-Lebron was detained by ICE agents outside of court on Thursday, after the start of his jury trial on charges of providing false information on a license application, as The Boston Globe first reported.

Summerville had held an emergency hearing on the matter Friday, where he ordered ICE to return Martell-Lebron, who is now being held in federal custody in Plymouth, to court to stand trial on Monday.

Defense attorney Murat Erkan on Monday called what had happened obstruction of justice and alleged a plan involving the state to deport Martell-Lebron. Erkan said that all it took was an email for ICE agents to show up at previous hearings, yet they ignored the order to appear in court Monday.

During the hearing, Summerville repeatedly overruled objections and threatened to throw out the lawyer for Assistant District Attorney Jack Lucy.

Lucy was called as a witness, where he admitted that ICE agent Brian Sullivan shared his intention over the phone the day before the trial to take Martell-Lebron into custody. Lucy said he met with Sullivan and two state troopers during a break the next day, and Sullivan said they would take him at the end of the trial.

"Prosecutors from the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office had no knowledge that the defendant was going to be arrested that afternoon," Assistant District Attorney Cailin Campbell said in court Monday.

The judge found the troopers played a role in letting ICE know when Martell-Lebron would be leaving court.

"There was a plan in place," Summerville said at the hearing. "There was an operation place."

"This is a plan to stop the defendant — to disappear him — during his ongoing jury trial so that he can't defend himself."

NBC10 Boston has reached out to ICE for comment on the situation.

Earlier Monday, the Suffolk District Attorney's Office said in a statement that it was "dismayed and surprised" by ICE taking Martell-Lebron into custody during the trial.

"We have been instrumental to Boston becoming one of safest cities in the nation by pursuing ethical prosecutions that hold offenders accountable and treat victims with dignity. We were dismayed and surprised when our prosecution of William Martell-Lebron was interrupted by ICE apprehending him in the middle of our case," James Borghesani, a spokesperson with the district attorney's office, said in an email Monday.

Speaking with reporters later, Borghesani criticized immigration authorities for detaining Martell-Lebron the way they did.

"We agree with the judge that it's an egregious move by ICE to do this," he said. "We intended to try this defendant at trial."

A representative for Massachusetts State Police said in a statement that its two state troopers, who were testifying in the trial, followed protocol "by neither assisting nor obstructing the federal action" when they found out about federal officers' intention to detain the man.

"Participating in such a mission or sharing information about it would be contrary to the Department’s longstanding approach across several state and federal Administrations to these complex situations, which prohibits Troopers from participating in a mission solely to facilitate detention or deportation. Our focus remains on working collaboratively with our local, state, and federal partners to prevent, deter, and respond to violations of state criminal law for the safety of everyone who lives, works, studies, and visits Massachusetts," the statement said.

According to The Boston Globe, Martell-Lebron appeared in a Boston courtroom Thursday for day one of his jury trial on charges of providing false information on a license application. But when he left court he was detained by ICE agents.

The district attorney's office had said they contacted ICE as soon as they learned of the detention and requested his return to court. They also filed a motion Monday morning asking that the court demand his appearance at trial.

"Any claim that we were aware of an attempt to prevent Mr Martell-Lebron from exercising his right to a trial is false," the district attorney's office said. "It was and still is our intention to try Mr. Martell-Lebron and hold him accountable for the crimes alleged in the complaint.  Federal authorities should not have detained him and interfered with our efforts to hold him accountable.

Erkan told the Globe that ICE said Lebron Martell is a Dominican national who is using an alias.

ICE released a statement Tuesday morning, saying "Officers with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston field office apprehended Juan Carlos Baez (aka Wilson Martell-Lebron), a 49-year-old, illegally present Dominican national with prior drug trafficking convictions, after he departed the Boston Municipal Court March 27, 2025.”