ERO Baltimore arrests national of Chad convicted of accessory to murder, weapons charges

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Enforcement and Removal Operations Baltimore apprehended a 25-year-old unlawfully present national of Chad who was convicted locally for accessory after the fact of murder first degree and unlawful possession of a firearm. Deportation officers from ERO Baltimore’s Fugitive Operations Team arrested Hisseine Gombo-Tchouli July 3 near his residence in Silver Spring, Maryland.

“Hisseine Gombo-Tchouli is a violent noncitizen offender who has proven to pose a significant threat to the people of our Maryland neighborhoods,” said ERO Baltimore acting Field Office Director Matthew Elliston. “We will not tolerate such grievous felons to endanger our law-abiding residents. ERO Baltimore will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing the most egregious noncitizen offenders from our communities.”

Gombo lawfully entered the United States Sept. 8, 2005, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia. However, he violated the terms of his admission.

The Montgomery County Police Department arrested Gombo Nov. 26, 2019, and charged him with firearm/drug trafficking crime, cds: distribution etc. with firearm, possession of firearm by minor, and two counts of cds: possession with intent to distribute.

The Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville convicted him Jan. 13, 2020, of possession of regulated firearm being under 21. The court sentenced him to one year in prison then suspended all but 48 days of the sentence.

The Howard County Police Department arrested Gombo Oct. 30, 2020, and charged him with accessory after the fact of murder first degree and accessory after the fact of murder second degree.

The Circuit Court for Howard County in Ellicott City convicted him Feb. 16, 2023, of accessory after the fact of murder first degree and sentenced him to 10 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised probation. The court then suspended all but 18 months of the prison sentence.

On Oct. 5, 2023, ERO Baltimore lodged an immigration detainer against Gombo with the Howard County Department of Corrections in Jessup. The Howard County Department of Corrections refused to honor ERO Baltimore’s immigration detainer and released him from custody Nov. 25, 2023.

Deportation officers from ERO Baltimore’s Fugitive Operations Team arrested Gombo July 3 near his residence in Silver Spring and served him a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge. Gombo remains in ERO custody.

As part of its mission to identify and arrest removable noncitizens, ERO lodges immigration detainers against noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity and taken into custody by state or local law enforcement. An immigration detainer is a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to state or local law enforcement agencies to notify ICE as early as possible before a removable noncitizen is released from their custody. Detainers request that state or local law enforcement agencies maintain custody of the noncitizen for a period not to exceed 48 hours beyond the time the individual would otherwise be released, allowing ERO to assume custody for removal purposes in accordance with federal law.

Detainers are critical public safety tools because they focus enforcement resources on removable noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity. Detainers increase the safety of all parties involved — ERO personnel, law enforcement officials, removable noncitizens and the public — by allowing an arrest to be made in a secure and controlled custodial setting as opposed to at-large within the community. Because detainers result in the direct transfer of a noncitizen from state or local custody to ERO custody, they also minimize the potential that an individual will reoffend. Additionally, detainers conserve scarce government resources by allowing ERO to take criminal noncitizens into custody directly rather than expending resources locating these individuals at-large.

ERO conducts removals of individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. The Executive Office for Immigration Review is a separate entity from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case, determining if a noncitizen is subject to a final order of removal or eligible for certain forms of relief from removal.

Members of the public can report crimes or suspicious activity by dialing 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the ICE online tip form.

As one of ICE’s three operational directorates, ERO is the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. ERO’s mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and its primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency’s detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal. ERO’s workforce consists of more than 7,700 law enforcement and non-law enforcement support personnel across 25 domestic field offices and 208 locations nationwide, 30 overseas postings, and multiple temporary duty travel assignments along the border.

Learn more about ERO Baltimore’s mission to increase public safety in our Maryland communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROBaltimore.