Man publicly arrested by ICE in Iowa City facing federal fraud charges

DAVENPORT — A federal courtroom in Davenport overflowed Monday afternoon — forcing court officials to stream court proceedings into a second room so observers wouldn’t be standing in the back — as community members gathered to show support for Jorge Gonzalez Ochoa, a Colombian immigrant who was publicly arrested last month by plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Iowa City.

A video that a bystander took of Gonzalez Ochoa’s arrest on Sept. 25 has been shared widely online. It shows officers tackling Gonzalez Ochoa to the ground and arresting him while he was at his job at Bread Garden Market in Iowa City, while bystanders repeatedly asked the officers to identify themselves.

Federal charges were filed against Gonzalez Ochoa on Oct. 9. They include fraud and misuse of documents, use of immigration identification document not lawfully issued, and false representation of social security number. He is currently being held in the Muscatine County Jail under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Charging documents state that Gonzalez Ochoa used a false social security number and a false permanent resident card to get his job at Bread Garden Market.

Federal prosecutor Kaitlyn Macaulay told a judge during a federal hearing Monday that Gonzalez Ochoa also misrepresented the address where he was living in the information he gave to ICE as part of his immigration case.

The hearing was a detention hearing, to determine whether Gonzalez Ochoa will continue to be detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals while awaiting trial for the federal charges, or if he will be released on bond.

If Gonzalez Ochoa is released from U.S. Marshal custody, he likely will be taken directly into ICE custody, and could face deportation before his federal charges are resolved. His next hearing in his immigration case is scheduled for February, but could be moved up if he enters ICE custody.

Gonzalez Ochoa, who is originally from Colombia, entered the United States without documentation in October 2024 with his fiance, and was detained by immigration officers before being released with a GPS ankle monitor. Macaulay said the ankle monitor is how ICE officers were able to determine Gonzalez Ochoa was sleeping somewhere other than the address he’d provided, and that he was working at Bread Garden Market.

Gonzalez Ochoa and his fiance have a son who is a U.S. citizen.

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Macaulay used Gonzalez Ochoa’s alleged misrepresentation of his address, as well as the fact that he attempted to run from the ICE officers that arrested him, as evidence to argue that Gonzalez Ochoa is a flight risk, and should not be released from U.S. Marshal custody.

“There is a serious risk of flight based on the defendant running and resisting arrest,” Macaulay said, stating that Gonzalez Ochoa told investigators in an interview after his arrest that he ran because he recognized one of the officers from previous interactions with ICE.

Gonzalez Ochoa’s defense attorney, public defender Abdel Reyes, argued that Gonzalez Ochoa is not a flight risk, stating that running from the ICE officers was an immediate reaction to a highly stressful situation and isn’t a good indication of whether he would appear for future court hearings. He also said the choice to run can be explained by the fact the officers were in plainclothes and there is no evidence that they identified themselves to Gonzalez Ochoa before arresting him.

Reyes also said there is no evidence that Gonzalez Ochoa has missed an immigration hearing, and told the judge that Gonzalez Ochoa is planning to file a request for asylum this week, which Reyes said proves Gonzalez Ochoa’s intent to stay in Iowa and face his federal charges.

“There is not a whole lot of evidence signaling the strength of the government’s case,” Reyes said.

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Judge Stephen B. Jackson presided over the hearing. He did not make a ruling Monday, but stated he would take the evidence presented under advisement and submit a written ruling. He gave the federal prosecutors until Friday to file any additional evidence for the detention decision. If the prosecutors file anything new, the defense will then have until the following Friday, Oct. 31, to respond before Jackson makes a decision.

“It is not a typical case,” Jackson said. Typically, he said, most cases that argue for continued detention of a defendant focus on danger to the community, but prosecutors did not argue in this case that Gonzalez Ochoa is a danger.

Gonzalez Ochoa was present during the hearing, and listened through a Spanish-language interpreter. He smiled as he came into the courtroom and saw the community members who were there to support him, some of whom traveled from Iowa City to be at the hearing in Davenport.

Dolores Richards, 76, of Iowa City, said she felt compelled to make the drive to support Gonzalez Ochoa after seeing the video of his arrest.

“What we saw on the news was just so shocking,” Richards said.

Richards’ parents, who are both dead, immigrated to the United States from Mexico when they were young children. She said she’s been thinking about them and wondering how they would react to the current environment in the United States as President Donald Trump’s administration has intensified the government’s focus on immigration enforcement.

“I would think that in this day and age it would be different,” Richards said. “I’m glad they’re not alive to see this.”

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