Chicago Jury Acquits Man in Border Patrol Threat Case

A federal jury in Chicago acquitted a 37-year-old carpenter on Thursday of charges that he solicited the murder of a top U.S. Border Patrol official through Snapchat messages sent amid last year's immigration crackdown in the area. Juan Espinoza Martinez, who lives in the city's heavily Mexican Little Village neighborhood, faced up to 10 years in prison for the single count of murder for hire but was cleared after jurors deliberated for less than four hours in the three-day trial.

The case centered on messages Espinoza Martinez sent in October to his younger brother and a friend, who was unknowingly a paid government informant. One message included a photo of Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander who led aggressive enforcement operations nationwide, including in Chicago, along with the text: "10k if u take him down." Prosecutors argued the words constituted a serious threat, not casual talk. "Those words have meaning. They are not innocent and harmless words," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Yonan told jurors in closing arguments.

Defense attorneys countered that the messages were simply recirculated neighborhood gossip Espinoza Martinez had seen on Facebook, shared...