Following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Page County in June, local and federal law enforcement have touted the arrest of one individual they say has ties to organized crime. But last year, the man was acquitted on the charges they cite as his criminal record. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
The Page County Sheriff's Office, through a 287(g) agreement to work with ICE on immigration enforcement activities, participated in an operation on June 12 that led to the arrest of 16 people, as WMRA previously reported. Last month, we brought you the story of four local dairy workers who were detained that night and later deported – but we knew very little about the others taken into custody that day.
On August 25, Page County Sheriff Chad Cubbage spoke about one of them in a Facebook video.
CHAD CUBBAGE [in video]: If it had not been for the ICE operation several weeks ago, right here in our community, we were able to apprehend a Tren de Aragua member who is a very high-ranking official that will be sentenced to life in jail. He was a very dangerous individual right here within our community.
The video includes a mugshot photo with a black bar redacting the man's eyes.
WMRA submitted a Freedom of Information Act request asking for the arrestee photo, the identity of the man, and the status of his arrest. A spokeswoman for the sheriff's department wrote back referring our request to ICE because "we do not have any of the records you are seeking. … Arrest was made by Immigration Enforcement."
Which agency actually conducted the arrest remains unclear, because ICE publicized this incident in a monthly report as follows:
"On June 12, 2026, TFOs," which stands for task force officers, "from the Page County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia encountered a citizen of Venezuela and an alleged member of Tren de Aragua." It says he was previously arrested by the Baltimore Police Department on several criminal charges.
An ICE spokesperson provided more information in an email to WMRA. The man, a 31-year-old Venezuelan citizen named Brian Jesus Rodriguez Salas, "unlawfully entered the United States near El Paso, Texas, in September 2023 and has no legal basis to remain in the United States. He has also been identified as a suspected member of Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization. He was previously arrested in Maryland in 2025 on felony and misdemeanor charges including assault, firearm use in a felony violent crime, reckless endangerment, handgun on person and theft, though those charges were later not prosecuted."
But, according to the city prosecutor's office, those charges were prosecuted, and Rodriguez Salas was acquitted by a jury. The charges stemmed from an incident that allegedly took place outside a food pantry in July 2024.
Here's the backstory – according to Maryland court records, the alleged victim applied for, and was granted, a "statement of charges." That's their term for a civilian pressing charges when the police don't file charges themselves. Last March, the case was featured on local TV news station FOX45, as authorities were still looking for Rodriguez Salas.
Al Maresca, a senior inspector with the U.S. Marshals Service, discussed the case with Reporter Alexa Ashwell.
ALEXA ASHWELL [in news broadcast]: The victim told investigators, after he received his meal from the center, Rodriguez Salas and another man cornered him with weapons. Investigators say Rodriguez Salas punched the victim in his face, then held a gun through the pocket of his hoodie and pointed it towards the man's torso. The victim says he tried to get away, but the second suspect blocked his path and began flexing and twirling a silver link chain …
AL MARESCA: According to the statement of charges, that's when the victim in this case yelled into the crowd that the assailant was armed.
ASHWELL: The men flee and police respond. The second suspect was apprehended in an alleyway, investigators say, but not Rodriguez Salas. Investigators say the victim identified him from a picture provided by police.
He was arrested by Baltimore City Police last May.
WMRA contacted the Baltimore city prosecutor's office, asking why these charges were not prosecuted. Staff wrote back via email to say that Rodriguez Salas was taken to trial on September 9, 2025. "The case was then prosecuted by our office and the defendant was found not guilty. It would be inaccurate to say that we did not prosecute this case," the deputy chief of communications wrote.
We also reached out to Maresca, the Marshals Service senior inspector who did the TV interview, for comment on the trial outcome and ICE's allegation of gang affiliation. He wrote in an email that he didn't have anything to add at this time.
Rodriguez Salas, the man at the center of these conflicting narratives, is currently detained in the Farmville Detention Center.
In July, he filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the federal court system – contending that the government was holding him illegally. Most of the documents in this case are sealed, but U.S. District Judge Roderick C. Young ordered that the man had to get a bond hearing before an immigration judge.
In a memorandum opinion, Judge Young writes that Rodriguez Salas indicated he'd been in the U.S. for three years, has three young children, and is the sole provider for his family through house remodeling work.
According to immigration court records, his case, which was docketed in 2024, ended on August 11 with a deportation order. He has until September 10 to appeal.
An ICE spokesperson did not respond to WMRA's question about what evidence supports his identification as a gang member.
