A member of Venezuela’s notorious Tren de Aragua gang has been released by a Chicago judge despite a request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain him, just a month before he is to be indicted in a Dever jewelry store robbery, The Washington Post has learned.
Jean Torres Roman was arrested this month for a shocking robbery on June 25 in which two female employees at a Denver jewelry store were hit with a handgun and threatened with death. Authorities later identified the 21-year-old suspect as a member of a Venezuelan prison gang.
But just a month earlier, Torres Roman had been arrested more than 1,000 miles away in Chicago, where he was caught trying to hide a stolen gun and charged with unlawful use of a weapon. According to CWB Chicago.
Police arrested Torres-Roman on May 5 after a gas station security guard reported hearing gunshots and spotted him running from the gunfire with his gun drawn.
Security camera footage shows three men walking away from a parked car, then Torres-Roman is seen running back to the car, clutching his waist, CWB Chicago reported.
According to police reports, the man walked around before placing the gun under the passenger seat of the car, and also dumped a box containing 43 rounds of ammunition under a nearby trash can.
Following his arrest, ICE issued a detention order and notified local police that they planned to detain him. According to a Department of Homeland Security source, Torres Roman illegally crossed the border in El Paso, Texas, in September 2023.
But Cook County Judge David Kelly overruled ICE and ordered his release. Chicago is a sanctuary city, meaning local law enforcement is not required to cooperate with ICE detention orders.
Torres Roman then failed to appear at a court hearing scheduled for May 13, according to CWB Chicago.
After being released, the gang members fled to Denver where, along with seven others, they carried out a brutal robbery of a jewelry store.
After the robbery, Torres-Roman fled to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he was arrested by federal authorities and extradited back to the Denver County Sheriff’s Office this month.
An alleged accomplice in Tres Roman’s most recent robbery remains at large. According to Border Report.
John Fabbricatore, a former director of ICE’s Denver field office, told The Washington Post that progressive sanctuary laws were to blame for illegal immigrants committing crimes in multiple states.
“Sanctuary policies do not protect U.S. citizens, legal residents or even the illegal immigrants who often fall prey to these gangs. Rather, they protect criminals by allowing them to hide in the shadow of failed policies,” Fabbricatore said.
Meanwhile, federal and local law enforcement agencies across the U.S., including in Chicago and Denver, received alerts this month warning that Tren de Aragua was giving its members a “green light” to attack and shoot police officers.
The Tren de Aragua, which translates to “Aragua Train” after the Aragua region of Venezuela, is beginning to gain a foothold in the United States amid the border crisis.
The Border Patrol began tracking the group last year and has arrested 70 members at the border. According to federal data.
But sources told The Washington Post that many are able to get through border control by not having distinctive gang tattoos.
“They will continue to slip in undetected as we do not have any access to criminal databases of other countries and the current administration has no power to deter these criminals,” the source lamented.
More than 100 federal criminal investigations have been opened against the gang. NBC News reported.
of The Biden administration also nominated Tren de Aragua. It has been designated an international criminal organization and has offered a $12 million reward for the capture of its leaders.
In New York City, the gang’s activity has been linked to multiple crimes.
Bernardo Raul Castro Mata, 19, a Venezuelan immigrant suspected of shooting and killing two NYPD officers on June 3, told police he was then recruited by the gang’s New York “coordinator” to join a group that carried out extortion rackets on mopeds.
Castro Mata also allegedly said the gang was smuggling guns into migrant shelters in New York City hidden in food delivery bags.
Torres Roman is currently being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled for a hearing on August 21st.
He faces charges including attempted first-degree murder, attempted robbery and criminal intimidation in connection with the robbery of a jewelry store in Denver.
His case is also being investigated by the U.S. Marshals.
