DA in Massachusetts denies 'any collusion' with ICE to detain defendant midtrial

Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald on Apr 2, 2025

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BOSTON — Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden denied prosecutors had any knowledge of ICE’s intent to arrest a defendant in the middle of his trial last Thursday and said ICE’s escalating actions “jeopardize public safety.”

“All of our actions in this case clearly demonstrated our intent to hold Mr. Martell-LeBron accountable, and none of our actions demonstrated any collusion with ICE to deprive him of his right to a trial,” Hayden said Wednesday. “Any claim that we collaborate with ICE in their actions to remove the defendant from the trial are wholly unsupported by any credible evidence.”

The DA’s claim comes nearly a week after ICE agent Brian Sullivan detained Wilson Martell-LeBron during his trial outside the Boston Municipal Court Central Edward W. Brooke Courthouse last Thursday. The suspected illegal immigrant reportedly had his past drug trafficking charges tossed due to the Annie Dookhan lab scandal.

ICE claims Martell-LeBron is a 49-year-old, illegally present Dominican national named Juan Carlos Baez. He is reportedly still being held in a detention facility in Plymouth, despite the DA and judge’s stated attempts to have him returned to court.

On Monday, Judge Mark Summerville dismissed the charges — related to allegedly making a false statement and forgery charges related to RMV documents — against Martell-LeBron “due to egregious and intentional prosecutorial misconduct.”

Summerville also found the arresting ICE agent Sullivan in contempt of court, leaving it up to Hayden’s office how to enforce the contempt charge.

“The judge in the case referred the matter to our court to consider whether or not we will be bringing forth any criminal charges,” said Hayden on Wednesday. “That’s under consideration. That’s under review. That order to us was just recently given. We have a lot to go over in this case before we can determine exactly how it is we’re going to proceed.”

ICE released a statement on the arrest Tuesday but did not address the contempt charge.

Hayden also addressed “larger issues related to the recent operations by ICE in Boston and Suffolk County.”

“I’ve watched ICE actions over the last few months, and I have concerns that those actions are harming our public safety goals,” said Hayden. “We’re now finding witnesses reluctant to cooperate with investigators due to fear of ICE; this harms public safety. We are seeing victims refuse to provide information about crimes against them due to fear of ICE; this harms public safety. We have seen a chilling effect on some of the most vulnerable in our communities due to fear of ICE; this harms public safety.”

The DA said his office will not “tolerate” ICE’s interference with public safety goals, but did not give many details about plans to prevent further incidents, saying he is “cautiously optimistic that something can be done.”

As of now, Hayden said, filing a lawsuit against the federal agency is “not on the table,” and the DA’s office is looking to work with ICE to prevent similar incidents “to the greatest extent possible.”

Hayden was also asked about claims from the defense that there is evidence at least an assistant defense attorney with his office knew of ICE’s planned arrest. State Police troopers involved in the trial also testified ICE notified them of their plans to arrest Martell-LeBron during the trial.

“As in any situation where a member becomes aware of federal immigration enforcement, the Troopers responded appropriately by neither assisting nor obstructing the federal action,” a State Police spokesperson said. “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.”

Hayden maintained there is “no credible evidence” that prosecutors were informed of the ICE plans Wednesday.

“Our prosecutors in this case, every last one of them, acted ethically and acted appropriately,” Hayden said. “And we would encourage them to continue to do so.”

As the Herald has reported, Martell-Lebron years ago faced drug charges in both Middlesex and Essex counties, according to reports. He was found guilty in Middlesex Superior Court on two counts of cocaine trafficking and one count of heroin trafficking in 2009, and he was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

Meanwhile in Essex County, Martell-Lebron pleaded guilty to one count of cocaine trafficking and one count of heroin trafficking in 2009. That five-year sentence was to be served concurrently with the Middlesex sentence. Then in 2017, those Essex County charges were vacated and dismissed with prejudice due to the Annie Dookhan drug lab scandal.

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