Suffolk prosecutors knew ICE would arrest Saugus man on trial, but kept quiet, court recordings show

The arrest last month of a Massachusetts man by a federal immigration agent amid his jury trial in Boston Municipal Court set off a legal and political standoff between state and federal law enforcers.

Details in court recordings and documents raise questions about federal interference in local cases, and what prosecutors and state police knew about the arrest before it happened.

Here’s what we know:

Wilson Martell-Lebron is a 49-year-old Saugus resident who worked in demolition. He was standing trial over allegations that he misrepresented his identity and citizenship status on a driver’s license application.

The felony case had been grinding along for five years. (In July 2023, Massachusetts became one of several states that allows people without legal status in the U.S. to obtain driver's licenses.)

The day before the trial was supposed to go to the jury, an ICE agent grabbed Martell-Lebron as he left an appearance at the downtown courthouse.

The Suffolk County district attorney had tapped ICE Special Agent Brian Sullivan as a witness in their case against Martell-Lebron. But in the middle of the trial, Sullivan put on a different hat, called in backup to the courthouse and whisked Martell-Lebron away in a black SUV.

District Attorney Kevin Hayden was livid, according to his public comments, as was were the defense attorney and the judge in the case.

Then, it came out in court proceedings that at least three of Hayden’s assistant DAs and two state police troopers knew ICE planned to make an arrest — and decided not to inform the court or probe for further details.

The morning after the arrest, Jack Lucy, the assistant DA prosecuting Martell-Lebron — and the state troopers — were called to the witness stand to answer for their communications with ICE.

The troopers were summoned first. They explained they’d been working with ICE agent Sullivan on the Martell-Lebron case since before the complaint was filed in 2020.

Trooper David Dumont testified that Sullivan told prosecutors about the plans to nab Martell-Lebron. Dumont faced questioning by defense attorney Murat Erkan, who referred to conversations between Sullivan, Lucy and assistant DA Matt Liber.

Erkan: “Special Agent Sullivan informed ADAs Liber and Lucy that his plan was to abscond with the defendant on March 27th of the year 2025 when he left the courthouse?”

A lawyer for Dumont objected. The judge overruled.

Dumont: “Yes. That was my understanding.”

Dumont also read from a text message exchange he had with the other state trooper and Sullivan on the day of the arrest. Amid jokes about Elon Musk and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, the texts illuminate Sullivan’s plans to locate Martell-Lebron.

Within hours, Sullivan texts: “Your ADA is not gonna like me.” He tells the troopers Martell-Lebron “is in federal custody.”

On the stand, assistant DA Jack Lucy admitted that Sullivan — the day before Martell-Lebron was arrested — revealed ICE intended to detain him.

Lucy: “Agent Sullivan stated, essentially out of the blue, that he intended to take the defendant into custody, but he did not specify when that would be.”

Attorney Erkan grilled Lucy about why he didn’t press the ICE agent for more details.

Erkan: “Did you ask for clarification of ICE Agent Sullivan regarding the timing of that plan?”

Lucy: “I did not.”

Erkan: “Okay. Did you say, ‘ICE Agent Sullivan, hold on. You are not planning to deport this guy in the middle of trial, are you?’ ”

Lucy: “I did not.”

Erkan: “ Did you inform defense counsel of that conversation?”

Lucy: “I did not.”

Erkan: “Did you inform the judge of that conversation?”

Lucy: “I did not.”

Lucy said he'd sought guidance from his supervisor, Assistant DA Amanda Corin, and asked if he should inquire about Sullivan’s plans. “The answer was no,” Lucy said.

Lucy also testified that he believed the arrest of Martell-Lebron would happen after the trial — a claim that appears to be at odds with Trooper Dumont's testimony and a discovery filing by the DA's office.

Enter Maria Romero, chief legal counsel for the Suffolk County DA. In court, she told Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville it could have been illegal for the DA's office to inform him of Sullivan’s plan.

“You asked us whether we should have told the court or a court officer,” she said.

Summerville interjected to say “not a court officer — me, the judge.”

Romero replied, “We could be possibly violating federal law in that we may be hindering their lawful apprehension of the detainee.”

Summerville was not happy with that answer: “I reject that. I reject that wholeheartedly.”

While assistant district attorneys were deciding what to do with knowledge of ICE’s plans, it’s unclear whether their top boss was in the loop. A spokesman for Hayden's office, James Borghesani, said the office had "no knowledge of ICE’s timing for arrest.”

The DA's office said it tried to get Martell-Lebron back into the courthouse to finish his trial, but ICE refused to comply.

On Jan. 23, Martell-Lebron petitioned the Supreme Judicial Court and warned that an arrest could be imminent.

Erkan wrote in the SJC petition: “Under the current federal regime, ICE agents stalk our halls of justice to drag family members away from this country, placing ordinary remedies out of reach. Mr. Martell-Lebron is an undocumented immigrant. If this Court does not intervene, he will be snatched away before he can vindicate his trial rights, let alone his appellate rights. Absent this Court's intervention, the denial of his rights will be irreversible.”

The SJC did not take up the case. But in the proceedings before Judge Summerville, emails revealed that Lucy flagged the filing for ICE agent Sullivan:

“You may be interested to read the attached brief the defendant filed … He admits he is ‘an undocumented immigrant’ … He argues that he shouldn't have to appear at trial because ICE will detain and deport him."

WBUR asked for details on why Lucy sent the message to Sullivan. The DA's spokesman in an email said, "It was pertinent because Sullivan was expected to testify that the defendant held a passport in a different name than he submitted to the RMV, which was at the heart of the forgery/false documents charges.”

After hearing two days of testimony, Summerville dismissed the case against Martell-Lebron — a major win for the defense. However, Martell-Lebron remains in ICE custody.

Summerville did not sanction the prosecutors, but instead criticized the DA’s office.

“ I'm not here to hurt a young ADA who's learning a very difficult profession,” Summerville said in court.

“I'm finding that they did not take part in the removal of Mr. Lebron, or assist in his removal. And frankly, I blame the district attorney's office more for the lack of training than these young ADAs.”

But Summerville held Special Agent Sullivan in contempt, lashing out at him for failing to appear at the hearing and for ICE’s refusal to bring Martell-Lebron back to court to finish the trial.

The proceedings before Judge Summerville were cut short when the U.S. Department of Justice stepped in.

U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley’s office argued the case should be tossed because state officials lack authority to prosecute federal agents doing their job.

The state attorney general, Andrea Campbell, then said her office would not disagree with the U.S. attorney’s petition. And on April 14, the contempt case against ICE agent Sullivan was dismissed.

Campbell’s decision may have headed off a protracted legal battle with the feds over ICE arrests. Over the past several months, the Trump administration has attacked Massachusetts political leaders, accusing them of refusing to allow local law enforcers to work with ICE.

Gov. Maura Healey has countered repeatedly that Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state, and that state authorities regularly collaborate with federal agents on criminal matters.

The Martell-Lebron case shows how complicated those relationships can be.

Possibly nothing. Matt Liber, the other ADA on the Martell-Lebron case, did not testify, and defense lawyers say the abrupt end to the case means some questions will go unanswered.

DA Hayden said he'd weigh criminal obstruction charges against ICE Special Agent Sullivan — prompted by Judge Summerville referring that decision to him. And Hayden could still act. But that's unlikely to happen, said Carl Williams, a law professor at Cornell University who attended the hearing after Martell-Lebron’s arrest.

“Is Hayden going to go against Trump and have him be like, ‘I'm gonna come to Boston!’ ?” Williams said. “He doesn't want that heat.”

Shira Diner, president of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said she hopes Hayden will address any possible misconduct within his office.

“There was so much evidence that came up at that hearing,” Diner said, “that the district attorneys involved in this case [and] their supervisors knew that [the arrest] was a possibility, that this was maybe going to happen during this trial.

“The people of Suffolk County have a right to know how their elected district attorney is going to approach these situations in the future.”

Wilson Martell-Lebron, meanwhile, sits in a Plymouth County lockup, awaiting removal proceedings. Ultimately, the legal questions and intense disputes his arrest prompted could have little, if any, bearing on what happens to him going forward.