Wife of man detained by ICE in hallway of Franklin County traffic court says community is ‘very afraid'
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.
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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.
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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.
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