Minnesota Dad of the week
Meet your neighbor, Ezequiel Rojas-Gasca, aged 43, of Rochester, MN. Mr. Rojas spent several hours this afternoon at the Federal Courthouse in downtown St. Paul where much due process occurred. So much due process.
He is charged federally with re-entry of a removed alien. That’s a felony charge for illegal immigration after being previously deported. But much of the afternoon’s proceedings were spent discussing an earlier, state felony case from 2023.
From KROC-AM:
The Olmsted County Attorney’s Office has filed charges against a Rochester man accused of sexually and physically abusing a young girl over a span of multiple years. The criminal complaint, filed in Olmsted County Court on Thursday, says the young girl reported the abuse started when she was five and lasted until she was 12 or 13.
We learned today in federal court that the alleged victim in the Olmsted County case was, in fact, the daughter of Mr. Rojas-Gasca. He was charged with felony second-degree criminal sexual conduct.
We also learned that the case was dismissed, reportedly because the witness(es) were no longer cooperating with prosecutors.
In the timeline of events, the conduct charged allegedly took place in February 2023. Rojas was charged in May 2024. Apparently, this drew the attention of ICE, who deported Rojas in November 2024. He apparently returned to the U.S. soon thereafter.
On May 23, 2025, he was picked up on a warrant in Olmsted County for the case involving his daughter. A few days later, the charges were dismissed. But this most recent arrest apparently got him back on the radar of ICE, which led to his St. Paul court appearance today.
But the details of his (alleged) sex crimes, no matter how horrific, could not be used against him today, as the state case had been dismissed.
His record also includes drunk driving convictions (non-felony) in 2011 and 2006, and an earlier drunk driving case in Colorado.
It was established that Mr. Rojas-Gasca is not a U.S. citizen. But neither in court today, nor in any state or federal court filings, nor in any media accounts is the name of his home country recorded.
It was established that there is a current ICE hold placed on him, with the general understanding that should ICE regain custody, Rojas-Gasca would be deported to [nation redacted].
He can neither read nor speak any English. A Spanish-language interpreter was provided for today’s hearing. Every important document involved was written in English, so each document had to be read aloud, then translated aloud into Spanish, for his benefit.
Like a bad game show, Mr. Rojas-Gasca was offered two alternatives, which both appear to lead to the same eventual result: his deportation to parts unknown.
Path 1: Accept the prosecutor’s offer of Fast Track, where he could plead guilty to the federal re-entry felony and be on his way back home in 30 to 60 days or so.
Path 2: Decline Fast Track, go to trial on the reentry charge in several months. 2A: gets acquitted, is handed over to ICE, gets deported. 2B: is convicted, spends several months in federal prison, is then handed over to ICE and deported. 2C: contests the reentry charge, gets released on bond, seized by ICE, deported.
He has apparently chosen (or perhaps defaulted to) Path 2C. He refused to enter Fast Track, the Magistrate Judge, Elizabeth Wright, then ordered his release, while awaiting trial.
The judge ruled that prosecutors were not entitled to have a hearing held on whether he should remain in custody. Evidence of his past deportation, his illegal reentry, previous skipped court dates and the dismissed sex felony charge were deemed irrelevant. There was much discussion of the difference between a “serious” threat to flee and an “ordinary” threat to flee.
She stayed her order until Monday, July 14, at 3:00 p.m. to allow the prosecutor to appeal. After all that, Rojas-Gasca will spend the weekend in federal custody.
If released on Monday, he will be taken into ICE custody and deported.
As was discussed in court this afternoon, this almost exact sequence of events recently occurred in the case of Roberto Carlos Rodriquez-Rodriquez (not a typo). An El Salvadoran national, he was indicted on the exact same charge (re-entry of illegal alien), ordered released, handed over to ICE, then deported.
Due process.