Former Nicaraguan police officer sentenced to more than 4 years for assault of HSI special agent

ALBANY, N.Y. - Michel Manuel Garcia Rojas, a criminal illegal alien from Nicaragua, was sentenced June 17 to 51 months in federal prison for assaulting a Homeland Security Investigations special agent who was arresting him pursuant to the Laken Riley Act. Garcia Rojas, a 39-year-old criminal illegal alien from Nicaragua, pleaded guilty Feb. 9 to an indictment charging him with resisting, impeding and assaulting a federal officer engaged in official duties and inflicting bodily injury.

HSI Buffalo acting Special Agent in Charge Anthony Patrone, Enforcement and Removal Operations Buffalo acting Field Office Director Philip Rhoney, and First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III announced the sentencing.

"This defendant, trained in defensive tactics, ran from federal agents, fought them and continued to resist in attempt to flee and attack law enforcement. Across the nation and here in New York, law enforcement personnel - enforcing the laws as they exist - are operating in an increasingly complex and dangerous threat environment. Despite the growing threats, HSI remains resolute in our mission to protect our communities and uphold the law. We stand united with our law enforcement partners and the communities we serve and will ensure that any attack on law enforcement is vigorously investigated and prosecuted."

"The assault on our HSI colleague while in the course of their official duties comes at a time when open border activists routinely demonize ICE for enforcing the laws passed by Congress, and blatantly false anti-ICE rhetoric from irresponsible politicians is at an all-time high," said ERO Buffalo Acting Field Officer Director Philip Rhoney. "Criminals and agitators will not stop us from carrying out our mission in a way that best serves national security, public safety and border security. I remain grateful to our officers and our federal partners for their work to keep violent illegal aliens off the streets in our state and our country."

"The violent assault of a federal officer by a criminal alien, is the unfortunate result of the prior administrations failed immigration policies," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III. "Thanks to the Laken Riley act, violent actors such as this defendant can be detained and removed from our country. Let Mr. Garcias Rojas be an example to anyone who attempts to assault a member of law enforcement, we will prosecute you, and you will face justice behind the walls of a federal prison."

In March 2025, HSI learned that Garcia Rojas and another illegal alien had been charged with the New York state misdemeanor offenses of petit larceny and endangering the welfare of a child. Given the nature of the state charges, both aliens were subject to immediate detention under the then-newly enacted Laken Riley Act. HSI promptly went to effectuate the arrests before the subjects were released on the state charges.

The defendant resisted lawful arrest and fled law enforcement. During the course of the encounter, an HSI special agent attempted to rearrest the defendant during what proved to be a violent fight, at one point repeatedly throwing the agent into an exterior door inside a vestibule, which prevented police officers inside the building from coming to the agent's aid. The defendant's assault on the agent caused a variety of injuries to the agent. Throughout the altercation captured on audio and video surveillance, the special agent can repeatedly be heard calmly telling the defendant to "stop resisting," while the defendant screams in rage. Ultimately, through the force of several law enforcement agents and the use of tasers the defendant was subdued and arrested.

Garcia Rojas entered the United States illegally and without inspection July 1, 2023, via Brownsville, Texas. As a result of the Biden administration's open-border policies, he was issued a notice to appear and released into the United States on his own recognizance pending immigration proceedings.

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