Suspected gang member sentenced for stealing FBI rifle after ICE agent shot man in Minneapolis

Paul Walsh, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jul 28, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS – A suspected street gang member has received a 4½-year prison term for stealing an FBI rifle during an ICE enforcement action in north Minneapolis in January, when federal agents shot and wounded a man.

Raul Gutierrez Jr., 33, of Inver Grove Heights, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court after he pleaded guilty to illegal gun possession in connection with the firearm’s theft from an FBI vehicle.

Soon after the theft, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that Gutierrez belonged to the Latin Kings gang and had a violent criminal history.

Gutierrez’s sentence “underscores the fact that violence, theft and damage to public property have no place in lawful protests,” a statement from FBI Minneapolis Field Office Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dotson said. “To the contrary, criminal behavior like the theft of law enforcement weapons endangers the law-abiding public engaged in First Amendment expression.”

Gutierrez’s criminal history includes convictions for illegal firing of a gun, domestic assault and burglary.

The gun theft came in the moments after an ICE agent shot Venezuelan immigrant Julio Sosa-Celis and then allegedly lied about the circumstances. Christian Castro, 52, stands charged in Hennepin County District Court with four counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and one count of falsely reporting a crime.

Gutierrez’s accomplice, Alexio Miranda, 32, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty in June to possessing a stolen gun. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 28.

According to court documents, Gutierrez and others broke into an FBI vehicle. Miranda removed a semiautomatic rifle, a silencer and ammunition from the back and gave them to Gutierrez, who drove off. He abandoned the gun and the silencer soon afterward, and Miranda collected them and took them home.

The following morning, investigators with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hennepin County Violent Offender Task Force staked out Gutierrez’s home in the 1300 block of E. 23rd Street. While there, they saw a tow truck load up a covered vehicle.

A masked man who matched Gutierrez’s approximate height and weight entered the passenger side of the tow truck and left. Investigators followed the truck for several minutes and soon pulled it over. The driver and Gutierrez ran off but were quickly apprehended.