A Cincinnati ICE supervisor pleaded guilty to one count of lying to a federal law enforcement officer Wednesday in U.S. District Court.
Samuel Saxon is suspended from his position as assistant field office director of the ICE ERO Cincinnati suboffice pending multiple legal proceedings around an alleged domestic violence incident.
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 afternoon of Dec. 5. He was arrested at a Cincinnati hotel about 1 a.m. the morning of Dec. 6.
Saxon has pleaded not guilty to those charges. Hamilton County prosecutors have alleged Saxon has a history of domestic violence.
U.S. attorneys filed charges he lied to a federal investigator in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati Dec. 17.
Saxon accepted a plea deal in the federal case Wednesday. The details of the plea deal weren't immediately available. U.S. District Court Judge Matthew W. McFarland will sentence Saxon.
What the filing says
The initial filing by U.S. attorneys 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."
According to the charges U.S. attorneys filed in federal court, Cincinnati Police and the DHS officer responsible for an internal investigation questioned Saxon about an hour after his Dec. 6 arrest at the hotel.
During questioning, Saxon claimed the woman he lived with was his ex-girlfriend and that he had gone by the Corryville apartment merely to slip a check under the door because he was paying her to move out. He claimed they did not interact in person, but that they talked over the phone.
The DHS agent questioned why neighbors were complaining about a loud altercation and why a witness said they saw the couple arguing in the hallway. According to the federal complaint, Saxon said they must have heard his ex-girlfriend screaming at him over the phone from the apartment.
A witness said they saw Saxon and his alleged victim in the hallway and recorded three videos with sound coming from their apartment.
In the federal complaint, the DHS agent notes in those recordings, "(the) victim seems to be screaming in fear. Other sounds consistent with a physical altercation can also be heard."
The agent wrote that the recordings and witness statement, along with police testimony about bruising on the woman's neck, were enough to believe there was probable cause Saxon had lied.
"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.
U.S. attorneys and Saxon's defense attorney acknowledged to McFarland Wednesday that his federal plea deal stipulates Saxon lied about not seeing his alleged victim in person the day of the incident.
What happens next
The felony count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. McFarland indicated he will wait for the court to produce a pre-sentence report on Saxon and the charges against him before handing down a sentence.
Saxon will remain in U.S. Marshals custody at Butler County Jail while he awaits sentencing. His Hamilton County case on domestic violence and strangulation charges will resume after federal proceedings wrap up.