Immigration and Customs Enforcement addressed the arrest of a criminal defendant mid-trial at Boston Municipal Court Central last week — but did not speak on contempt charges the judge filed against the agent Monday.

“Officers with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston field office apprehended Juan Carlos Baez (aka Wilson Martell-Lebron), a 49-year-old, illegally present Dominican national with prior drug trafficking convictions, after he departed the Boston Municipal Court March 27, 2025,” an ICE spokesperson said in a Tuesday statement.

Baez, or Martell-Lebron as he’s been referred to in court, was arrested Thursday during his trial at the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse and taken to a detention facility in Plymouth.

The defendant was being tried on making a RMV-related false statement and forgery charges, which were dismissed by the judge Monday “due to egregious and intentional prosecutorial misconduct” following the ICE arrest.

The DA’s office said after they heard of Baez’s detention, they “requested his return to court” from ICE, and the judge found Special Agent Brian Sullivan, who facilitated the arrest, in contempt of court.

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Baez entered the U.S. in 2000 via Miami, Florida, according to ICE, and was convicted of three drug trafficking crimes in the Middlesex County Superior Court in 2009.

ICE did not answer an inquiry about why he was detained mid-trial.

Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden was scheduled to hold a press conference on the detention of the defendant Tuesday, but it was postponed until Wednesday morning.