MACON, Ga. — Federal prosecutors are hoping to keep Diego Ibarra — the brother of the suspect in Laken Riley's killing on UGA's campus — behind bars in his fraudulent documents case. They also accuse Ibarra of being a member of a Venezuelan gang.
The court filings in the U.S. Middle District of Georgia come the day before prosecutors and Ibarra's federal public defender face off in Macon before Judge Charles Weigle on Thursday morning.
The documents offer an array of new details from his previous arrests and how he got sucked into the case against his brother, Jose Ibarra.
Prosecutors accuse him of presenting a fake green card to police, which the authorities "immediately recognized" as "fraudulent due to its poor quality and the fact that the ID listed two different birth dates for Ibarra," the filings say.
Ibarra, who entered the United States illegally back in April 2023, had been stopped by authorities the day after Riley's body was found by authorities near UGA's intramural fields. In surveillance video, they saw a Hispanic man wearing a "distinctive baseball cap with an Adidas logo" who they believed was connected to the case.
When an Athens police sergeant was patrolling the next day, they encountered Diego, who matched that description and was wearing "an identical hat," the filings say.
Eventually, attention would shift from Diego to his brother, Jose Ibarra, who was arrested for allegedly killing Riley in what UGA Police describe as "a crime of opportunity." Riley was a nursing student at Augusta University in Athens.
But along with new details about his arrest, federal prosecutors suggest that Diego Ibarra may be a member of the "Tren de Aragua" gang, also known as TdA.
They're known for "recent violent confrontations with law enforcement and civilian victims in New York and elsewhere throughout the United States," the documents read.
Federal prosecutors point to three reasons why they believe Ibarra may be a member of TdA: his tattoos, photos of him presenting gang signs and his tendency to wear Chicago Bulls regalia.
They include photos of Ibarra's tattoos, which they describe as a "five-point crown on the left side of his neck and a five-pointed stars on the right side of his neck." Federal prosecutors say many TdA gang members are known to have similar tattoos.
Investigators with Homeland Security Investigations also found "several different social media accounts that Ibarra used."
Those accounts also included videos that appear to show Ibarra flashing the TdA gang signs.
The gang sign is described by prosecutors as members extending their pinky finger, index finger and their thumb while they fold their ring and middle fingers back.
The prosecutors also included photos of Ibarra repping gear from the Chicago Bulls.
They say the members of TdA "frequently wear Chicago Bulls basketball attire, even if they have no connection to Chicago or the Bulls," the filings say. "Ibarra has several photos of himself and others on his social media accounts wearing Chicago Bulls attire."
They also include photos of Ibarra appearing to flash firearms, which they note is a violation of U.S. law. They say it is illegal for noncitizens to possess a firearm in the U.S., and they also say flashing firearms is a common practice among gang members.
They point to his possible gang affiliation as part of the rationale for keeping Ibarra behind bars as his case goes through the court system. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Along with accusing him of being a gang member, the filings include new details about his previous crimes and his history with immigration authorities, such as attempting to bite a border control agent while trying to cross the border.
They also point to Ibarra cutting off an ankle monitor, which was found on the side of the road in Littleton, Colorado. He had an ankle monitor as part of the government's "Alternatives to Detention" program.
That detail will likely fit into prosecutors' argument that Ibarra poses a flight risk if he is granted pre-trial release, which will be discussed at his preliminary hearing slated for Thursday morning.
The hearing will also tackle whether or not there is enough evidence that Ibarra committed the crime he is accused of. Because Ibarra was charged by criminal complaint and not a grand jury indictment, Weigle has to agree that there is enough evidence Ibarra likely committed the crime.
Ibarra had previously been arrested for a DUI, driving without a license, two cases of shoplifting and failing to appear in court on one of his previous charges.