An agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement based in Cincinnati now faces a federal charge in relation to an alleged domestic violence incident earlier this month.
A Dec. 17 filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio reveals Samuel Saxon has been indicted by a grand jury on one count of lying to a federal law enforcement officer. He was transferred to the Butler County Jail where he is being held on a federal detainer until he has a detention hearing at the Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse in downtown Cincinnati Dec. 22.
Saxon was arraigned Dec. 12 on strangulation, domestic violence and felonious assault charges in Hamilton County Court after he allegedly put his domestic partner in a chokehold in the hallway of their Corryville apartment building the evening of Dec. 5 and early morning of Dec. 6.
Saxon pleaded not guilty to the charges. During his arraignment, Saxon's attorney Tad Brittingham pointed out Saxon has no prior criminal record. Brittingham said the alleged victim has reached out to him multiple times and didn't seem to have injuries during a video meeting the two had Wednesday. The victim is not cooperating with the investigation, but police say they saw bruises on her neck and a bystander took an audio recording of the incident.
Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor Melinda Rinehart alleged Saxon had a long pattern of domestic abuse against his partner, including a 2018 incident in Virginia in which he broke her nose and another earlier this year in Cincinnati in which she suffered a fractured pelvis.
Rinehart told the court Saxon and his partner moved to Cincinnati about a year and a half ago. Since that time, Cincinnati Police had been called to the two places they've lived 23 times, she said.
The federal charge stems from the Dec. 6 incident, according to court filings. The filing says Saxon made "materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent" statements to a Special Agent with the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, by saying "he had not interacted in person with Individual 1 [Saxon's partner, the alleged victim] on the day of the 911 call described in this indictment."
"These statements and representations were false because, as Saxon then and there knew, on the day of the 911 call described in this indictment, Saxon had interacted in person with Individual 1 in the hallway of an apartment building, where he grabbed Individual 1 by the neck, as well as within an apartment," the filing says.
Saxon is currently suspended from his role as assistant field office director of the ICE ERO Cincinnati suboffice, Hamilton County Prosecutors say. A 2016 post on the Department of Homeland Security's website shows a man named Samuel L. Saxon, who resembles the defendant, receiving the department's Meritorious Silver Service Medal.
WVXU has reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment and to request Saxon's personnel file. A reporter also has requested records of any previous incidents Cincinnati Police responded to involving Saxon.
Saxon received a $400,000 straight bond during his Hamilton County Court arraignment. That bond ordered Saxon to be tracked with an electronic monitoring device. He must also avoid possessing firearms and stay away from the alleged victim.
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