Federal Grand Jury Charges Pico Rivera Man with Impeding Immigration Officers Arresting Illegal Alien in Parking Lot

SANTA ANA, California – A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging a Pico Rivera man with impeding immigration officers from conducting enforcement actions in the parking lot of a Pico Rivera shopping center in June.

Adrian Andrew Martinez, 20, is charged with one count of conspiracy to impede a federal officer, a felony that carries a statutory maximum sentence of six years in federal prison.

Martinez’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

“Today, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against this defendant for conspiracy to impede federal agents,” said Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “He now faces up to six years in prison for his conduct. Make no mistake: There are serious, life-altering consequences for impeding law enforcement.”

According to the indictment and court documents previously filed in this case, on June 17 in Pico Rivera, federal agents were arresting a person believed to be an illegal alien residing in the United States. Martinez, who worked at a nearby Walmart, stopped and exited his vehicle and confronted the United States Border Patrol agents.

A crowd of several other individuals also stopped their vehicles and parked near the agents, partially blocking the lanes in the parking lot as the agents attempted to leave the area with the arrestee.

The hostile crowd collectively honked at the agents from their cars and shouted at them. The crowd – both in vehicles and on foot – surrounded the agents, blocking them from leaving the area. One of these vehicles was the one that Martinez had driven. Martinez positioned his vehicle to block the agents’ vehicle.

Martinez grabbed a large trash can and moved it in front of the agents’ vehicle, blocking it from leaving.

An indictment contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Homeland Security Investigations is investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Alexander P. Robbins of the Criminal Appeals Section is prosecuting this case.