Man shot by ICE in Maryland takes plea deal, faces deportation

A man shot by ICE officers during an arrest on Christmas Eve in Glen Burnie, Maryland, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of destroying government property and is now at risk of deportation.

Tiago Sousa-Martins’ encounter with immigration officers began last year when they ran his license plate against databases and found he overstayed a 2008 visa from Portugal, when he was a child. Court records show they weren’t looking for Sousa-Martins when they were on patrol near a Lowe’s home improvement store.

According to an FBI agent’s account, officers said they followed the 30-year-old to a nearby neighborhood, where they say he resisted arrest and they broke his windshield trying to pull him out of his work van. Officers said he tried to drive away, striking ICE vehicles, and they fired 13 times, hitting Sousa-Martins twice, in the leg and in the back.

The plea deal comes just weeks after Sousa-Martins pleaded not guilty to federal misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and destruction of government property. His federal public defenders, who represented him in the criminal case, did not return News4’s request for comment on the change in his plea.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland said Monday that he pleaded guilty to destruction of government property after two government vehicles were damaged. He was sentenced to time served, totaling 103 days. He also was ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution.

Alice Barrett, who is representing Sousa-Martins in his immigration case, pointed to officers’ use of force.

“This plea agreement and the hearing at which he was sentenced don’t change anything about the bottom line of his case, which is that ICE’s use of lethal force against him was excessive and dangerous,” said Barrett, managing attorney for immigration legal services with the advocacy nonprofit CASA.

Sousa-Martins remains in ICE custody. His attorney filed a stay of removal request, asking a judge to allow him to remain in the U.S. while his immigration case proceeds.

”We’re very hopeful the court will do what’s right and allow him to get a fair chance to secure legal status and unite with his family after everything that he’s endured,” Barrett said.

The Department of Homeland Security filed an expedited order of removal against Sousa-Martins after his December arrest. In a statement Wednesday, a spokesperson said that under the Trump administration, “If you break the law, you will face the consequences.”

‘He couldn’t breathe’: Sousa-Martins’ family flagged concerns about his medical care

Barrett told the News4 I-Team last month that Sousa-Martins hadn’t received recommended follow-up appointments with trauma surgeons and struggled to receive necessary medication and care while behind bars – first in ICE custody and then in federal pre-trial detention.

“He was left for days in a state in which he was not receiving proper medication or bandage changes, and it has taken a lot of advocacy to just get him to a point where his bandages are being regularly changed,” she said.

Sousa-Martins’ partner, who asked News4 and Telemundo 44 to not to identify her by name, wept as she described the impact the shooting has had on their family – especially their two young children, ages 1 and 4.

“My oldest son, to this day, keeps asking: “Where is my father?” she said last month in Spanish, adding the family has told the children their father is on an extended trip.

She said she didn’t hear from Sousa-Martins for about a week after he was shot during his arrest, and when she did, she was alarmed at how he sounded.

“He couldn’t breathe. The bullet caused something in his body that is preventing him from breathing well,” she said.

The billboard, situated on Dual Highway in Washington County, Maryland, is just miles from a planned ICE facility in Williamsport. The billboard was bought by Hagerstown Rapid Response.

In a statement, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said: “Sousa-Martins had access to medical care as needed throughout his detention. He was transferred to the U.S. Marshals in good health January 17.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, which operates the Chesapeake Detention Facility where Sousa-Martins was held, said they couldn’t comment on the specific medical care of an incarcerated individual, but said the department “remains firmly committed to the health, safety, and well-being of every individual in our custody.”

The statement goes on to say that the facility’s medical partner “works diligently to ensure that incarcerated individuals receive timely medical attention and–when appropriate–the same treatment and support they received before their incarceration.”

Sousa-Martins’ partner said she was holding on to hope he regains his strength and one day can return to his family and children.

“What worries us most is that he won’t receive proper care and that he’ll suffer lasting consequences,” she told T44. “He’s very scared because he always tells me he can’t take his children because he doesn’t have the strength in his arms. He can’t hug them. It’s very painful for him.”

ICE detention may expand near Hagerstown, MD. Who decides, who gets a say, and what it means for neighbors on 4 More Context.

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