ALBANY, N.Y. — Michel Manuel Garcia Rojas, a 39-year-old illegal immigrant from Nicaragua and former Nicaraguan police officer, was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for violently assaulting a Homeland Security Investigations special agent who was arresting him pursuant to the Laken Riley Act.
Garcia Rojas 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. The sentencing was announced by 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.
“This defendant, trained in defensive tactics, ran from federal agents, fought them and continued to resist in attempt to flee and attack law enforcement,” Patrone said. “Despite the growing threats, HSI remains resolute in our mission to protect our communities and uphold the law.”
In March 2025, HSI learned that Garcia Rojas and another illegal immigrant had been charged with New York state misdemeanor offenses of petit larceny and endangering the welfare of a child. Both were subject to immediate detention under the then-newly enacted Laken Riley Act. HSI moved to arrest the subjects before they were released on the state charges. Garcia Rojas resisted lawful arrest and fled, repeatedly throwing the HSI special agent into an exterior door inside a vestibule during a violent fight, which prevented police officers inside the building from coming to the agent’s aid. Audio and video surveillance captured the special agent calmly telling the defendant to “stop resisting” while Garcia Rojas screamed in rage. He was ultimately subdued through the force of several law enforcement agents and the use of tasers.
“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,” said 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.”
Garcia Rojas entered the United States illegally and without inspection on July 1, 2023, via Brownsville, Texas. Under the Biden administration’s policies, he was issued a notice to appear and released into the United States on his own recognizance pending immigration proceedings.
“The violent assault of a federal officer by a criminal alien, is the unfortunate result of the prior administrations failed immigration policies,” said Sarcone. “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.”
Garcia Rojas faces removal proceedings following the completion of his 51-month federal sentence.