Wife of man detained by ICE in hallway of Franklin County traffic court says community is ‘very afraid'
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Surveillance video from the Franklin County Municipal Court shows a man being detained by ICE in a hallway after appearing in traffic court.
The man, Leonardo Fausto, of Westerville, was in court on June 3 for operating a motor vehicle without a valid license — a misdemeanor charge that was dismissed. He pleaded guilty to driving 70 mph in a 45 mph zone and was fined $100 plus another $102 in costs for a total of $202, online records show.
The case has been closed.
Columbus social media influencer pleads guilty to $20 million Ponzi scheme
Surveillance video from the hallway outside of the courtroom shows Fausto leaving when a man in a baseball cap and plainclothes stops him in the hallway. The man in the cap is seen talking to Fausto before he places him in handcuffs. Fausto is then escorted out of the courthouse.
The video does not have audio.
The case has caught the attention of community activists and state leaders.
Fausto is in the country legally, but he is not a citizen. Right now, he's jailed in Butler County.
NBC4 Investigates has spent the last week meticulously digging into what happened and how. We talked to the man's lawyer, his wife, and worked our sources to get the video and learn what ICE agents can and can't do when detaining someone.
The Faustos came to central Ohio four years ago from Brazil, seeking asylum. Their case was denied, and their lawyer appealed.
They are legally allowed to stay in the United States while they wait for their appeal to be decided.
'We could not identify them by ICE officers because they were not wearing a vest and they also did not have a badge,' said Fausto's wife, through a translator. She asked not to be identified by name.
State, federal cannabis changes threaten Ohio festival's future
ICE agents must identify themselves and show credentials before they make an arrest. They are allowed to be in plainclothes.
Fausto's wife speaks Portuguese, and NBC4 spoke with her through a translator, as she shared the moment on June 3, when she found out her husband was detained.
'I got a call, it was about 12:30, and I got desperate,' Fausto's wife said. 'I was with the kids — with the three kids — and I didn't know where to start. It was just going through my head, what am I going to do? I am alone.'
Fausto's lawyer, Walter Messenger, said ICE told him Fausto had missed an immigration hearing, which the lawyer said is not true.
'I've attended every hearing with him,' Messenger said.
Fausto works in construction during the week. On weekends, he and his wife sell pizza. They're involved in church, and their youngest child is a U.S. citizen — born after they fled Brazil.
'We love this place, but since we don't have a citizenship, we don't have documents,' Fausto's wife said. 'We are just exposed to what is happening now.'
They left Brazil after threats toward their family, and came to central Ohio seeking asylum, which is a form of protection that allows people to remain in a country instead of returning home, where they face harm.
'There is a provision in their order of supervision that they can't violate any ordinances, that's one way, you know, they are able to detain,' Messenger said. 'But in the past, this has never been a problem. ICE would not go to courthouses in Franklin County and pick up someone after they paid a speeding ticket unless there was another serious crime involved.'
In this case, there is no other crime alleged. Fausto pleaded guilty to speeding and was picked up by ICE on his way down the hall to pay the fine.
'I explain to my oldest that we are in a country that it's not our country and they don't want us, but we have to do everything we can,' Fausto's wife said. 'We have to do what is right. I explain that his daddy is in prison, but that his daddy will be out soon. That we have to pray to God.'
Fausto's lawyer is working to get him released from Butler County. The lawyer has to prove Fausto will attend all his court hearings and is not a danger to the community.
'That's going to be easy because he hasn't committed any crimes,' Messenger said. 'We also have to prove that he's going to show up to his court hearings. That's going to be easy because I've attended every hearing with him.'
'Our community is very afraid,' Fausto's wife said. 'People are afraid to leave their houses. People are afraid to go to work. People are very afraid to walk on the streets. We need to ask help to whoever we can help us. I need to ask help for whoever can help my husband.'
NBC4 Investigates received a statement from a representative with Franklin County Municipal Court stating, 'The court's longstanding practice has been to allow law enforcement to operate in public areas outside the courtrooms.'
In Common Pleas court, where usually more serious cases are heard, the court has issued two new rules, stating the court 'prohibits civil arrests without a judicial warrant within the courthouse grounds' and it 'prohibits arrests by judicial warrant within the Judges' courtrooms, except when enforcement agencies have requested and received written approval of a Judge.'
Fausto's lawyer said a federal ICE agent detained Fausto. NBC4 reached out to the federal media contact for ICE and has not yet received a response. We also reached out to the offices of U.S. Senators Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted for comment but have not yet received a response.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Travel Weekly
2 hours ago
- Travel Weekly
Trump administration directs ICE to pause immigration arrests at hotels
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Trump administration directed immigration officers to pause arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels, after President Donald Trump expressed alarm about the impact of aggressive enforcement, an official said Saturday. The move follows weeks of increased enforcement since Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and main architect of Trump's immigration policies, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers would target at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of Trump's second term. Tatum King, an official with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations unit, wrote regional leaders on Thursday to halt investigations of the agricultural industry, including meatpackers, restaurants and hotels, according to the New York Times. A U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to the Associated Press the contents of the directive. The Homeland Security Department did not dispute it. "We will follow the President's direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America's streets," Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security spokesperson, said when asked to confirm the directive. The shift suggests Trump's promise of mass deportations has limits if it threatens industries that rely on workers in the country illegally. Trump posted on his Truth Social site Thursday that he disapproved of how farmers and hotels were being affected. "Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace," he wrote. "In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!" While ICE's presence in Los Angeles has captured public attention and prompted Trump to deploy the California National Guard and Marines, immigration authorities have also been a growing presence at farms and factories across the country. Farm bureaus in California say raids at packinghouses and fields are threatening businesses that supply much of the country's food. Dozens of farmworkers were arrested after uniformed agents fanned out on farms northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County, which is known for growing strawberries, lemons and avocados. Others are skipping work as fear spreads. ICE made more than 70 arrests Tuesday at a food packaging company in Omaha, Nebraska. The owner of Glenn Valley Foods said the company was enrolled in a voluntary program to verify workers' immigration status and that it was operating at 30% capacity as it scrambled to find replacements. Tom Homan, the White House border czar, has repeatedly said ICE will send officers into communities and workplaces, particularly in "sanctuary" jurisdictions that limit the agency's access to local jails. Sanctuary cities "will get exactly what they don't want, more officers in the communities and more officers at the work sites," Homan said June 9 on Fox News Channel. "We can't arrest them in the jail, we'll arrest them in the community. If we can't arrest them in community, we're going to increase work site enforcement operation. We're going to flood the zone."
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Southern California father who is U.S. citizen, arrested during immigration raid, family says
(KTLA) – Family members are demanding answers after they say a man who is a U.S. citizen was wrongfully arrested by federal agents during an immigration raid in Montebello. On June 12, surveillance video captured the moment several masked and armed agents surrounded a tow truck business in Montebello. The agents quickly entered the property and began detaining mechanics and other workers at the site. One of the detained men who was later released spoke to KTLA but asked not to be identified out of safety concerns. He said he was violently grabbed and taken by the agents despite being a U.S. citizen. 'He slammed me to the gate,' the man told KTLA's Ellina Abovian. 'He put my hands behind my back. I'm an American citizen. You do not do that to Americans.' Nataly Degante, whose cousin, Javier Ramirez, 32, was arrested in the raid, said that while agents began handcuffing everyone, they reportedly never provided identification or information about why they were there. 'We see in the video that they don't come with a warrant,' she said. 'They don't have any documentation in their hands.' Degante said her cousin is a U.S. citizen and a single father of two young children. She described him as a hard worker with no criminal record. Video of the raid shows some workers being moved to the ground as agents quickly handcuffed them. Ramirez is also seen on the video yelling to the agents that he's a citizen. 'He's telling them he is a U.S. citizen and he's letting them know, 'My passport is in my pocket,'' Degante said. However, Ramirez was handcuffed and taken into custody. His brother tried following Ramirez's location through his cell phone's tracking app, but the signal was eventually lost. His family has not heard from him since. 'We haven't heard anything about him,' said Abimael Dominguez, his brother. 'He's diabetic. I don't even know if he has insulin yet or has he eaten? We don't know anything. ' It remains unclear whether the agents were with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Some of the agents appeared to be wearing uniforms with a Border Patrol insignia. 'I voted, but not for this,' said the man who was detained and later released. 'I'm an American citizen. I want the best for all of us. I feel like there is due process that we must follow.' 'They're not only taking criminals, they are taking our community,' Degante said. As of Friday afternoon, Homeland Security has not responded to KTLA's request for comment about why Ramirez was detained or whether he was wanted for any crimes.
Los Angeles Times
3 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘I'm speaking for those who can't': A daughter marches to honor her father
She was attending her first protest, driven to be seen with thousands of others at a 'No Kings' demonstration Saturday morning in El Segundo, eager to make a statement. But she was there for her father, as well. The sign she held aloft as car horns honked in support said: 'I'm speaking for those who can't.' Her father would have loved to join her, Jennifer told me. But with ICE raids in Los Angeles and arrests by the hundreds in recent days, her 55-year-old undocumented dad couldn't afford to take the risk. Jennifer is 29. I hadn't seen her in nearly 20 years, when I wrote about her father and visited her home in Inglewood to deliver $2,000 donated by readers who read his story. Here's the back story: In December of 2005 I got a tip about a shooting in the front yard of an Inglewood home. Two men approached a landscaper and demanded money. He resisted, and in the tussle that ensued, a shot was fired. Paramedics rushed the man to the emergency room at UCLA, where doctors determined that a bullet had just missed his heart and was lodged in his chest. Although doctors recommended he stay at least overnight for observation, he insisted he felt fine and needed to get back to work. The landscaper, whom I referred to as Ray, insisted on leaving immediately. As he later explained to me, the Inglewood job was for a client who hired him to re-landscape the yard as a Christmas gift to his wife. Ray was shot on Dec. 23. He finished the job by Christmas. I've been thinking about Ray since ICE agents began the crackdown ordered by President Trump, whose administration said its goal was to deport 3,000 people a day. Hundreds have been arrested in the Fashion District, at car washes and at building supply stores across Los Angeles. That's led to clashes between law enforcement and demonstrators, and to peaceful protests like the one along Imperial Highway and Main Street on Saturday in El Segundo. I thought of Ray because Trump generally speaks of undocumented immigrants as monsters, and no doubt there are criminals among them. But over the years, nearly all my encounters have been with the likes of Ray, who are an essential part of the workforce. Yes, there are costs associated with undocumented immigrants, but benefits as well — they've been an essential part of the California economy for years. And among those eager to hire them — in the fields, in the hospitality industry, in slaughterhouses, in healthcare — are avid Trump supporters. On Friday, I called Ray to see how he was doing. 'I'm worried about it,' he said, even though he has some protection. Several years ago, an immigration attorney helped him get a permit to work, but the Trump administration has vowed to end temporary protected legal status for certain groups of immigrants. 'I see and hear about a lot of cases where they're not respecting documents. People look Latino, and they get arrested,' said Ray, who is in the midst of a years-long process to upgrade his status. Ray is still loading tools onto his truck and driving to landscaping, tree-trimming and irrigation jobs across L.A., as he's done for more than 30 years. But he said he's being extra careful. 'You know, like keeping an eye out everywhere and checking my telephone to see where checkpoints are,' he said. Ray's ex-wife has legal status, and all three of their children were born here and are U.S. citizens. The marriage ended and Ray has remarried, but he remains close to the three kids I met in the spring of 2006, when they were 9, 10 and 11. The younger son, who is disabled, lives with Ray. His older son, a graphic designer, lives nearby. Jennifer, a job recruiter, lives next door and has been on edge in recent days. 'Even though he has permission to be here … it's scary, and I wasn't even letting him go to work,' Jennifer said. 'On Monday I was getting into the shower and heard him loading up the truck.' She ran outside to stop him, but he was already gone, so she called him and said, 'Oh my God, you shouldn't be going to work right now. It's not safe.' Jennifer works from home but couldn't concentrate that day. She used an app to track her father's location and checked the latest information on ICE raids. So far, Ray has made it home safely each day, although Jennifer is hoping he slows down for a while. Twenty years ago, when I wrote about Ray getting shot and his insistence on going back to work immediately, one of the readers who donated money — $1,000 — to him was one of his landscaping clients, Rohelle Erde. When I checked in with her this week to update her on Ray's situation, she said her entire family came to the U.S. as immigrants to work hard and build a better life, and Ray did the same. 'He has been working and making money and helping people beautify their homes, creating beauty and order, and this must be so distressing,' Erde said. 'The ugliness and disorder are exactly the opposite of what he represents.' The evening before Saturday's rally in El Segundo, Jennifer told me why she wanted to demonstrate: 'To show my face for those who can't speak and to say we're not all criminals, we're all sticking together, we have each other's backs,' she said. 'The girl who takes care of my kids is undocumented and she's scared to leave the house. I have a lot of friends and family in the same boat.' Jennifer attended with her son, who's 9 and told me he's afraid his grandfather will be arrested and sent back to Mexico. 'He's the age I was when you met me,' Jennifer said of her son. Mother and son stood together, flashing their signs for passing motorists. His said, 'Families belong together.' Jennifer told me that her father still has the bullet in his chest.
