INDIANAPOLIS — The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is pushing back on claims by Attorney General Todd Rokita. Rokita took to social media Thursday, saying the sheriff’s office ignored an “ICE detainer request” and released a man, who is once again accused of a serious crime.
“This man should not have been in this country the first time he committed crimes against women. A woman. And then the second time against another woman,” Rokita.
A man is back behind bars and facing charges of attempted rape, battery, and confinement.
Indiana’s Attorney General said Manuel Lopez was considered an ICE detainee, but the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office released him after similar charges from an incident a year ago.
“Think about the time that he spent in jail, we had to feed him. He had a public defender, I’m sure the taxpayers paid for that. So there’s a safety issue here. It makes me angry that women and people who are here who belong here frankly are at risk,” Rokita said.
The suspect entered a plea agreement back in February, which dismissed rape and sexual battery charges against him. He was convicted of a level 6 felony-confinement and was released by the court, according to a statement sent to us by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
On February 19, 2025, Manuel Lopez Lopez entered a plea agreement, was convicted on a Level 6 Felony-Confinement, and was released by the court. At the time of his release, there was not an immigration detainer on file for him with the Monroe County Correctional Center. The Correctional Center had received only a “Request for Advance Notification of Release” from ICE, a form that requests that law enforcement provide notice of release to ICE. This form specifically states that it “does not request or authorize that you detain the subject beyond the time that he or she is scheduled for release from your custody.” That request was honored, and ICE was notified before Lopez was released.
The Sheriff’s Office crafted the Standard Operating Procedure to comply with all applicable laws and constitutional guarantees. It is the position of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office that the current policy balances our obligation to enforce the laws while ensuring that constitutional rights are protected.
Sheriff Ruben Marté, The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office
“The fact that he was released a year ago back into the Monroe County community and is now recidivated, committed another crime, and is now back in jail wasn’t necessarily an oversight. It was a very predictable consequence of the sanctuary policies that the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department maintains,” Blake Lanning, Assistant Chief Deputy, said.
“They have been a sanctuary jurisdiction. We’re trying to get them to comply with the law and correct that. This guy is a poster child for them not complying with the law,” Rokita said.
Attorney General Rokita has an ongoing lawsuit against the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Ruben Marté in regards to the county’s immigration detention policy.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
