Previously deported Mexican citizen arrested in Bloomington after ICE investigation

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigation ended this week in Bloomington when federal agents arrested a previously deported Mexican citizen.




The FBI has confirmed that agents arrested 36-year-old Martin Cortez-Lopez on Tuesday outside the Monroe County Justice Center in Bloomington. Documents filed by an ICE agent in US District Court detail how Cortez-Lopez's criminal history in Indiana led to his being detained.

Initial arrest, deportation

Cortez-Lopez, a Mexican citizen by birth who is not a US national, was deported to Mexico in January 2011. This came after he was arrested in Florida the year prior for public intoxication, cocaine possession and resisting arrest.




The arrest report stated that officers saw Cortez-Lopez fighting another male and that he appeared to be highly intoxicated. When an officer attempted to intervene in the fight, Cortez-Lopez reportedly threw punches.




Police officials say Cortez-Lopez continued to resist arrest as he was handcuffed and that officers later found cocaine on him. The suspect was convicted in Collier County, Florida, on July 21, 2010, and sentenced to two years in prison.




However, ICE officials say Cortez-Lopez was later prohibited from entering the US after his crime was designated an aggravated felony. On Feb. 5, 2011, he was removed to Mexico at Brownsville, Texas.




ICE officials say that Cortez-Lopez then fell off their radar until April of this year, when an officer was doing a records check of their "Alien File." During this check, the officer discovered that fingerprints matching the deported Cortez-Lopez had appeared in an Indiana police database.

Monroe County arrest, fingerprints taken

The case file containing the fingerprint was from an arrest last summer in Monroe County.




Documents detail how, on June 21, 2024, Cortez-Lopez was arrested by Indiana University police after being pulled over for reckless driving on IU's campus. After being pulled over, officers allege that he tried to switch seats with the passenger in his car.




Cortez-Lopez reportedly showed signs of being drunk and ended up failing field sobriety tests. A preliminary breath test showed Cortez-Lopez had a .132 blood alcohol content.

While being taken into custody for drunk driving, officers reportedly found a small bag of white powder under Cortez-Lopez's seat. That powder later tested positive for cocaine.




Cortez-Lopez was taken into custody and later booked into the Monroe County Jail on charges of cocaine possession and OWI endangering a person. His case is currently pending in Monroe County Court.




As part of the booking process, Cortez-Lopez had his fingerprints put into a law enforcement database. It was this standard booking procedure that later alerted ICE officials to Cortez-Lopez being back in the country.




However, this was not the first time the suspect had been arrested in the area.

First Monroe County arrest

Court records detail how Cortez-Lopez had already been arrested months earlier in Monroe County on similar charges.




A police report states that, on Feb. 3, 2024, officers found Cortez-Lopez sleeping inside a car that was parked in a roadway with the hazard lights on. Police also found an open alcohol container sitting in the cup holder.




Officers said Cortez-Lopez showed several signs of being drunk and that a portable breath test resulted in a .10 BAC. Officers later found several small plastic bags full of white powder in his driver's side door. That powder later tested positive for cocaine.




Cortez-Lopez was then arrested and charged with cocaine possession and operating while intoxicated. The case is still pending in Monroe County.




While ICE may not have been alerted to this first arrest, the second arrest led them to their suspect.

Investigation, arrest

ICE officials checked records that indicated Cortez-Lopez had not received permission from any government entity to reapply for admission into the US.




Given this information, ICE officers filed a criminal complaint on April 28 in US District Court charging Cortez-Lopez with illegal reentry by a previously deported citizen.




On Tuesday, federal agents acted on the criminal complaint and detained Cortez-Lopez outside the Monroe County Justice Center. The FBI said the arrest was part of a federal warrant issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.




According to The Herald-Times newspaper in Bloomington, which first broke the story, Cortez-Lopez was detained after a court hearing where he was scheduled to enter a plea deal for one of his previous arrests.




Herald-Times reporter Laura Lane wrote that Cortez-Lopez attended the 9:30 a.m. meeting with a Spanish interpreter. During the hearing, Judge Darcie Fawcett reportedly agreed to continue the hearing and reschedule for May 14.




Court officials told local reporters that they were unaware of the federal presence inside the courthouse, although rumors that ICE agents were in Bloomington began spreading earlier this week on social media.




Under a new guideline passed in January by President Donald Trump, courthouse detentions such as this one are legal. The new ICE guidelines state that agents may conduct immigration enforcement in or near courthouses when they "have credible information that leads them to believe the targeted alien is or will be present at a specific location."




Cortez-Lopez was reportedly taken into federal custody following his arrest on Tuesday. Online jail records show he is being held at the Adult Detention Center in Indianapolis.





via: https://fox59.com/news/indynews/previously-deported-mexican-citizen-arrested-in-bloomington-after-ice-investigation/