A Honduran man released from immigration detention under a federal judge’s order has been charged with raping a woman inside her Minnesota home while working as a handyman.
Marcotulio Melendez Diaz, 42, faces a felony count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Ramsey County, Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported. Investigators say the October 11 assault in Mounds View was recorded by a surveillance camera inside the woman’s home.
Citing the criminal complaint, Melugin said Melendez Diaz allegedly overpowered the woman and repeatedly sexually assaulted her. He remains in custody with bond set at $150,000 and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. He is scheduled to return to court November 25.
Melendez Diaz challenged his immigration detention in a March 27 habeas petition assigned to U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia, according to a public docket. Garcia, a Clinton appointee, ordered the release on August 7 on due process grounds, Fox News reported.
Melendez Diaz then returned to Minnesota. The Board of Immigration Appeals rejected his deportation appeal on October 9 and issued a final removal order, according to Fox News. Authorities allege he raped the woman two days later.
ICE placed an immigration detainer on Melendez Diaz. The agency blamed the court’s release decision for allowing the alleged assault to occur. ICE said:
This is what happens when activist judges side with criminal illegal aliens over Americans.
Marcotulio Melendez Diaz, a Honduran illegal alien, was released into the United States under the Biden administration in 2024.
ICE arrested him, and an immigration judge ordered his deportation. But a Clinton-appointed federal judge ordered him RELEASED.
Just two days after his deportation order became final in October, Melendez Diaz allegedly raped a woman inside her Minnesota home while working as a handyman. He now faces a first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge.
ICE had him in custody, a federal judge ordered him released, and now an American woman has suffered a horrific crime that could have been PREVENTED.
Melendez Diaz first entered the country illegally at the Texas border in April 2024 and was apprehended and released during the Biden administration.
Immigration officers arrested him in Minnesota in January 2026 during Operation Metro Surge and transferred him to a detention facility in Texas, according to the report.
An immigration judge ordered his deportation on March 30. Melendez Diaz appealed that decision and separately challenged his detention in federal court.
The criminal charge remains pending, and Melendez Diaz has not yet been convicted in the case.
