By SOPHIA TAREEN, Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago carpenter cleared of accusations that he put a $10,000 bounty on the life of a Border Patrol commander has been taken into immigration custody and faces deportation, attorneys confirmed Tuesday.

Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, was acquitted of one count of murder-for-hire last week. Within 24 hours, he was picked up by federal immigration agents, said defense attorneys Jonathan Bedi and Dena Singer.

Born in Mexico, Espinoza Martinez was brought from Mexico to the U.S. as a young child, according to a videotaped interview played during the short trial. His immigration status was not part of the first criminal trial stemming from the Chicago immigration crackdown.

Defense attorneys said the federal government, which referred to Espinoza Martinez as a “criminal illegal alien,” engaged in “character assassination.” Prosecutors accused Espinoza Martinez of being a “ranking” member of the Latin Kings, but the claim quickly unraveled when they didn’t present evidence and a judge barred mentions of the street gang at trial.

“This verdict is a reminder that juries see through political prosecutions. They demand real evidence, not speculation and character assassination,” Bedi and Singer said in a joint statement. “The government didn’t have it. They never did.”

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Espinoza Martinez, a married father of three, was arrested in October.

His wife, Bianca Hernandez, told the Chicago Tribune that her husband was a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program that’s shielded hundreds of thousands of people from deportation if they meet certain criteria, including no criminal history. However, Espinoza Martinez was not able to reapply in 2020 due to financial hardship, according to family.

“We were very, very happy because we knew that he didn’t do anything,” Hernandez told the Tribune. “But at the same time, it is a very bittersweet victory because he doesn’t actually get to come home.”

She did not return messages left this week by The Associated Press.

Espinoza Martinez was charged in October as the city of 2.7 million and surrounding suburbs were seeing a surge of federal immigration agents. Protests and standoffs with immigration officers were common, particularly in the city’s heavily Mexican Little Village neighborhood where Espinoza Martinez lived.

He was accused of sending Snapchat messages to his brother and a friend who turned out to be a longtime government informant. One read in part “10k if u take him down,” along with a picture of Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official who has led aggressive crackdowns nationwide, including in the Chicago area.

After the verdict, the Department of Homeland Security dismissed the decision by the jury, which deliberated less than four hours.

“This verdict does not change the facts: Espinoza targeted federal law enforcement with violence via Snapchat,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. She referred reports to the Department of Justice, which did not immediately respond to a message Tuesday.

The case has fueled skepticism about the Trump administration’s narratives surrounding the immigration enforcement surges. Of the roughly 30 criminal cases stemming from Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area, roughly half have been dismissed or dropped.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development issued $6 million in environmental assessment and clean-up grants to 13 communities across the state, including Minneapolis, Roseville, St. Paul and West St. Paul.

The goal is to ready sites for redevelopment and support $486 million in planned private investment, which would increase tax base by nearly $5.5 million. The grants are expected to help clean up 75 acres of polluted lands and create 1,500 housing units, in addition to new school spaces and commercial areas.

Contamination clean-up grants pay for up to 75% of the costs of assessment and clean-up at polluted sites slated for public or private redevelopment, and can be applied for by cities, port authorities, housing and redevelopment authorities, economic development authorities or counties.

Among the larger grants, the Roseville Economic Development Authority will receive $2 million in clean-up funding toward a 152,000 square-foot light industrial building at its sprawling Twin Lakes Technology Center. The 12.5-acre site, which is contaminated with petroleum and other chemicals, was previously used as a trucking terminal and maintenance shop.

DEED awarded the city of St. Paul $211,000 in clean-up funding at a .22-acre site at 1170 Arcade St. that had been used as a gasoline filling station. The site will be redeveloped by Face 2 Face into 24 units of affordable housing for homeless youth, with support services on the lower level.

The city of West St. Paul is receiving $137,000 in clean-up funding at the Thompson Oaks redevelopment site, an 11-acre site contaminated with volatile organic compounds and other chemicals. The site, previously used as a distribution center, a fitness center and for other commercial reasons, will be redeveloped into a five-story, 272-unit market-rate apartment building, as well as 19 townhomes. An existing 7,000-square-foot commercial building will be renovated.

The city of Minneapolis has received $192,000 in clean-up funding at the future site of a 16,800 square foot theater addition to the

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Lundstrum Performing Arts school off Washington Avenue in North Minneapolis. The 1.3-acre site, which is contaminated with petroleum and other chemicals, was previously used as a scrap metal recycling facility, an auto salvage business and a coal yard before a commercial building was added about 20 years ago.

Additional grants were awarded in Albert Lea, Austin, Duluth, Ely, Hermantown, Litchfield, Melrose, Rogers and St. Louis Park.

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has notified Congress that it is taking the first steps to possibly reopen the shuttered U.S. Embassy in Venezuela as it explores restoring relations with the South American country following the U.S. military raid that ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.

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In a notice to lawmakers dated Monday and obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, the State Department said it was sending in a regular contingent of temporary staffers to conduct “select” diplomatic functions.

It said the staffers would live and work in a temporary facility while the existing embassy compound is brought up to standard. It was shuttered in March, 2019.

“We are writing to notify the committee of the Department of State’s intent to implement a phased approach to potentially resume Embassy Caracas operations,” the department said in separate but identical letters to 10 House and Senate committees.

This is a developing story; check back for updates.

The Gophers athletics department reported a $2.4 million surplus for fiscal year 2025, according to U documents made public this month. That seems likely to change for fiscal 2026.

The University of Minnesota reported $163.6 million in revenue and $161.2 in expenses for last year, but the 2025 fiscal year didn’t include the combined $20.5 million the school began paying student-athletes for the 2025-26 school year. With that on the books, the Gophers told the Board of Regents they forecast a deficit of nearly $9 million.

As part of a Congressional settlement with NCAA athletes, the NCAA began allowing $20.5 million annually that schools can share with student-athletes in addition to the money they can make on Name, Likeness and Image (NIL) deals. According to the recent report, the House Settlement had no financial implications for the 2025 fiscal year.

According to the recent report, there were roughly $10 million increases in revenues and expenses from fiscal year 2024, when the U had a $1.4 million shortfall on $151.1 million on 52.5 million in expenses.

Here are some broad strokes on the budget numbers in the annual report:

Media rights

The Gophers’ revenue from the Big Ten Conference from TV, radio, internet and e-commerce rose from $50.8 million in 2024 to $63 million in 2025.

Football accounted for $56.7 million and men’s basketball for $6.3 million. A year ago, that was $45.8 million for football and $5 million for men’s basketball.

The Big Ten also has increased distributions of bowl-generated revenues from $7.8 to $11.5 million year over year.

Ticket sales

The U reported a decrease of $3.1 million in ticket sales revenue, going from $22.6 million in fiscal year 2024 to $19.5 million in 2025.

Football ticket revenue fell from $14 million in 2024 to $11.6 million in 2025; men’s hockey was at $3.9 million in both fiscal years; and men’s basketball went from $2.3 million to $2.1 million.

Licensing, sponsorships

While revenue from ticket sales have dipped, the accounting pot for licensing agreements, sponsorships, advertisements and royalties has gone up from $11.2 million to $13 million in that same span.

Contributions

The U reported a decrease money given by individuals, corporations and other organizations for the operations of the athletics department. That went from $24.1 to $22.2 million in 2024 to ’25. The amount of in-kind contributions, non-monetary donations of goods or services, decreased from $1.1 million to $7,556.

Institutional support

UMN lists two types of institutional support — direct and indirect — and those two funding sources combined has grown from $9.7 million to $11.4 million in that same span.

Direct support is defined as funds for tuition, federal work study support and endowment income. Indirect is described as administrative services, facilities management, security, risk management and utilities.

The budget spot for “other operating revenues” grew from $5.8 to $7.5 million, while the “other operating expenses” pot has decreased from $6.1 to $4.5 million.

Compensation

The Gophers line items for coaches, support staff and administrative workers’ salaries, benefits and bonuses grew from $58.2 million to $62.8 million. This also includes an $800,000 increase in severance paid.

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