Parias, a popular Los Angeles TikTok streamer, faced the federal prosecution while held in immigration detention, and a judge ruled that process deprived him of the ability to consult with his lawyers in time to prepare for trial.
On Saturday, U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin issued a ruling dismissing the indictment against Carlitos Ricardo Parias, known for Spanish-language videos documenting police and immigration enforcement activity, according to the Associated Press. Olguin dismissed the case “with prejudice,” meaning federal prosecutors cannot refile the same charges.
Olguin said in his ruling that Parias’s constitutional rights were violated when federal authorities repeatedly failed to allow his criminal defense attorneys to visit or speak with him while he was detained. The judge wrote that the government’s failure to coordinate between its agencies while continuing to pursue Parias’s criminal proceedings created circumstances “from which constitutional violations could — and did — occur,” the AP reported.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said in a statement that it was evaluating options for appeal. The office said it “strongly disagree[s] with the court’s version of the facts as well as its legal conclusions,” according to the AP report.
Federal prosecutors indicted Parias last month, and he pleaded not guilty, according to the AP. The indictment included assault on a federal officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon and depredation of government property.
The charges arose from an October incident, the AP said, when federal authorities stated that Parias rammed his vehicle into theirs as they tried to arrest him on an immigration warrant. Authorities also said they shot him in the elbow during the arrest, and Parias was hospitalized initially afterward.
After that October incident, Parias was released on bond and was later taken to an immigration detention facility in Adelanto, California, the AP reported. The report said the facility is about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northeast of downtown Los Angeles and is run by The GEO Group, under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The AP also reported that federal authorities said Parias is a Mexican citizen living in the country illegally. A message seeking comment was left for his immigration attorney, Carlos Jurado.
Parias is well known in South Los Angeles, the AP said, for his Spanish-language TikTok posts on two accounts with more than 340,000 combined followers. Videos on his page dating back to 2024 have documented police activity, car accidents and fires, along with everyday scenes such as tortilla-making and rainy days in Los Angeles; more recently, the footage has focused on demonstrations against immigration enforcement and arrests by federal deportation authorities.
The AP report did not indicate whether the dismissal affects any separate immigration proceedings involving Parias.