Marcotulio Melendez Diaz

Introduction

Marcotulio Melendez Diaz, 42, a Honduran national, is a handyman charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct after he allegedly overpowered and repeatedly raped a woman inside her own Mounds View, Minnesota home on October 11, 2026 — an assault police say was captured on the victim’s indoor surveillance system. Two months earlier he had been released from ICE custody by a federal judge’s habeas ruling, even though an immigration judge had ordered him deported and an appeal was pending; his final deportation order came through two days before the alleged attack. The Ramsey County complaint was filed October 26, 2026, and he faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Background Information

Per federal immigration authorities, Melendez Diaz was first apprehended at the southern border and released into the United States by the Biden administration in April 2024. ICE arrested him again in Minnesota in January 2026 during its Operation Metro Surge and transferred him to an ICE detention facility in Texas. On March 30, 2026, an immigration judge issued a deportation order, which Melendez Diaz appealed. While the appeal was pending, U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia of the Western District of Texas — a Clinton appointee — granted his habeas petition on August 7, 2026, ruling that his continued detention violated due process because ICE had not made an individualized assessment of whether he posed a danger to the community or a flight risk; the order required his release no later than August 10, 2026. Melendez Diaz returned to Minnesota, and on October 9, 2026 the Board of Immigration Appeals rejected his appeal and issued a final deportation order. Court records list the defendant as Marcotulio Melendez Melendez Diaz.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charged.

According to the Ramsey County criminal complaint, on October 11, 2026 Melendez Diaz — working at the Mounds View home as a handyman — allegedly overpowered the resident and repeatedly raped her against her will. The charging document dates the assault on or between October 11 and October 12, 2026, and police say the woman’s own indoor surveillance system recorded it. Two days after the alleged attack came the Board of Immigration Appeals’ final deportation order; the criminal complaint itself was filed in Ramsey County District Court on October 26, 2026, charging a single count of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the First Degree — penetration, with injury, using coercion, Minnesota’s most serious sexual-assault felony. Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin’s reporting on the case attached the booking photograph, the charging document and Garcia’s release order. ICE placed a detention detainer on Melendez Diaz, and he remains in custody on $150,000 bond facing up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

The release ruling sits at the center of the controversy. ICE publicly blamed the judge’s order, saying the attack could have been prevented if Melendez Diaz had remained in custody: “This is what happens when activist judges side with criminal illegal aliens over Americans. ICE arrested him, and an immigration judge ordered his deportation. But a Clinton-appointed federal judge ordered him RELEASED. And now an American woman has suffered a horrific crime that could have been PREVENTED.” Garcia’s ruling found the detention unlawful or unreasonably prolonged on due-process grounds even while acknowledging that federal immigration law otherwise required it — the judge’s order itself, attached to the reporting, set the August 10 release deadline that returned Melendez Diaz to Minnesota months before the alleged assault.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The documented reaction is ICE’s own statement, issued through Fox News’ exclusive reporting and amplified by the New York Post’s coverage of the case. The story drew immediate national attention precisely because the paper trail — deportation order, habeas release, final removal order, then the charged rape two days after that order became final — is unusually complete, with the surveillance video, booking photo and charging document all attached to the reporting. RedState’s coverage framed the case as the direct product of border policy and the release order. Neither Melendez Diaz nor any attorney for him has made a public statement in the coverage, and the complaint’s full narrative remains sealed behind the court’s paywall. The victim has not spoken publicly, and no civil suit appears in the record so far.

Current Status

Melendez Diaz is in custody in Ramsey County on $150,000 bond with an ICE detainer lodged against him, charged with one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in a case filed October 26, 2026. The charges are accusations in an unadjudicated complaint — he has not been tried or convicted of the rape, and the potential 30-year term applies only upon conviction. The Board of Immigration Appeals’ final deportation order of October 9, 2026 stands on the immigration side regardless of the criminal outcome. The court record shows a single criminal count and no hearings or rulings beyond the filing; whether his public defender will contest the complaint, seek bail modification, or proceed to trial has not been reported.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The charge converts Melendez Diaz’s two-year arc — border release, ICE arrest, deportation order, habeas release, final removal order — into parallel criminal and immigration tracks that both end in custody or removal: up to 30 years in a Minnesota prison if convicted, and a final deportation order that stands even if he is acquitted. The handyman work that put him inside the victim’s home came directly out of the release ruling, and the evidence against him includes the victim’s own surveillance recording of the alleged assault. At 42, with the complaint in Ramsey County and the ICE detainer in place, his time in the United States — first entry April 2024, final order October 2026 — now runs concurrent with a prosecution that carries a potential three-decade sentence.

Sources

Fox News (Bonny Chu), “Illegal alien freed by Clinton judge charged with rape in Minnesota: ICE”, November 2, 2026 — source
RedState (Ward Clark), “Clinton Judge Frees Illegal Who Then Assaults MN Woman on Video”, November 2, 2026 — source
NY Post, “Woman allegedly raped by illegal migrant after Clinton-appointed federal judge ordered his release”, November 3, 2026 — source
MN CRIME (Ramsey County case file), “Marcotulio Melendez Melendez Diaz — Ramsey County”, complaint filed October 26, 2026 — source