First Guilty Plea in Chicago’s Midway Blitz Case Is for Concealment Not Assault

Overview

• Anthony Gonzalez Alvarez pleaded guilty Wednesday to misprision of a felony, admitting he concealed a crime in the first plea tied to Operation Midway Blitz.
• He told the court he drove his Ford F-250 into the rear passenger side of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle on Oct. 3 at 61st Street and Kedzie, then falsely reported his truck stolen to Chicago police.
• Under a deal that still needs Judge LaShonda Hunt’s approval, Alvarez is expected to pay $1,362 in restitution and avoid prison, with sentencing set for July 22.
• Even with this plea, no one in Chicago has been convicted in federal court of violence against agents, and of 32 nonimmigration cases tied to the blitz, 20 have been cleared and three are headed for dismissal, with trials for four Broadview defendants set for May 26 and a separate plea by Hector Gomez scheduled for April 27.
• Defense teams say key evidence has been hard to examine, noting a repaired rental vehicle held by Enterprise that could block access to crash data, and pointing to a separate case where an agent moved a vehicle to Maine before inspection, after which charges against Marimar Martinez were dropped.