Honduran Man, 42, Charged in Minnesota Rape After Judge Ordered ICE Release
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Nov 2
Honduran Man, 42, Charged in Minnesota Rape After Judge Ordered ICE Release
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Nov 2
Summary
Marcotulio Melendez Diaz, 42, was charged with first-degree criminal sexual penetration after prosecutors said he raped a woman in her Mounds View, Minnesota, home on Oct. 11; he faces up to 30 years in prison.
ICE said the Honduran national had been released from immigration custody in August after U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia granted a habeas petition on due-process grounds while his deportation case was still under review.
That release sent him back to Minnesota even though an immigration judge had ordered his deportation on March 30; the Board of Immigration Appeals rejected his challenge on Oct. 9, two days before the alleged assault.
Federal officials said Melendez Diaz was first apprehended and released at the southern border in April 2024, then arrested again in Minnesota in January 2026 during Operation Metro Surge; he is now back in custody.