Federal Judge in Prairieland ICE Detention Center Protest Case Fines Defense Attorneys Five Hundred Dollars Each After Filing Motion to Compel Discovery, Suggests Defendants Take Pleas
FORT WORTH, TX — A federal judge in the Prairieland ICE Detention Center case fined three defense lawyers five hundred dollars each last week for a mistake in a routine motion to compel discovery. In a Show Cause hearing on January 14, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Pittman, admonished lawyers for Prairieland defendant Zachary Evetts, calling the motion “frivolous.”
In response to this and other actions taken by Judge Pittman in the Prairieland case, the DFW Support Committee, a group of family and loved ones of the defendants, published a statement today. “As the Prairieland defendants’ federal trial approaches, a pattern of concerning activity by the presiding judge, Mark Pittman, has emerged,” reads the statement. “The fate of the defendants—and the result of this trial—will have enormous impacts on the legal terrain for those resisting ICE terror and the course of the rising authoritarianism in the U.S. As such, the fairness of this trial should be an acute concern for all.”
“Judge Pittman is showing a clear disdain for the defendants,” said Irina Popova, who attended the Show Cause hearing. “Zachary’s lawyer was doing his job by asking the court to make sure he gets all the relevant evidence. The judge compared him to a five-year-old child, and bullied him into agreeing that his request was frivolous, which is deeply disturbing, and forebodes an unfair trial.”
The unusual fine comes just two years after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Judge Pittman, an appointee of President Trump during his first term, had abused his discretion and was too quick to fine lawyers in his court. This was the third time Judge Pittman was called out by the Fifth Circuit, first in 2021, and again in 2022.
Additionally, in December 2025, Judge Pittman successfully pressured a key defense attorney to remove himself from this federal case. George Lobb, who has an impressive record winning in federal court, was hired to represent Prairieland defendant Maricela Rueda. Despite Lobb formally taking up residence in Fort Worth last year, Judge Pittman threatened to fine him $1000 per day until he hired additional local counsel to serve as attorney of record. After Lobb complied with this request, Judge Pittman called him into a hearing where the judge implied Lobb would be “investigated” but not reported to the State Bar. This threat, which was punctuated by two federal agents Judge Pittman stationed behind Lobb during the hearing, resulted in Lobb removing himself as Rueda’s federal attorney. “Constitutional Guarantees are not guarantees if those with the power to interpret the laws do so in a capricious and arbitrary manner,” said George Lobb in response to Judge Pittman’s actions.
After the Show Cause hearing concluded, a status conference regarding logistics for the trial began. When discussing the complexity of the case, Judge Pittman compared it to one involving weapons smuggling to the IRA in the 1960s, and expressed to defense counsel that if he were in their situation, he would meet with less culpable clients to explain “what happens when you’re thrown in with the rest.” Judge Pittman went on to say that if someone only spray-painted a vehicle, it might not make sense to include them in a trial on attempted murder charges, and they may be better off pleading guilty.
When discussing courtroom safety and decorum, Judge Pittman explained that outbursts would result in removal from the courtroom, and a second outburst would result in that person having to “spend some time in Johnson County.”
“It’s clear that Judge Pittman is aware of the inhumane conditions at the Johnson County jail, and is using that as a threat to anyone in his courtroom,” said Diana Rueda, sister of defendant Maricela Rueda. “There’s no other explanation for threatening to send people to a jail that’s 40 minutes away, in another county.”
The federal Prairieland trial is scheduled to start on Tuesday, February 17 and is expected to last two or three weeks, per conversations between the judge, prosecutors, and defense attorneys. The U.S. Attorney’s Office indicated it has four or five cooperating witnesses, five or six expert witnesses, and as many as 15 witnesses on the scene of the July 4, 2025 protest.
Prejudicial statements related to these cases have been made repeatedly by officials at the highest levels of government, undermining the defendants’ ability to get a fair trial. The Trump administration has publicly claimed that the Prairieland case is the first legal case against Antifa, while Trump declared Antifa a domestic terrorist organization. On September 25, the White House released the National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 (NSPM-7), which ordered all federal law enforcement agencies to prioritize combating Antifa as a domestic terrorism threat. FBI director Kash Patel has called the Prairieland defendants “Antifa-aligned anarchist violent extremists,” sharing Fox News coverage of the case on X.
Yet, supporters are refuting the claims of terrorism and planned violence. “As the Prairieland case progresses, it looks more and more like a protest case involving people expressing solidarity with detained immigrants,” said Amber Lowrey, sister of defendant Savanna Batten. “The federal government is trying to reframe protest activity as terrorism, and we’re seeing this attempted across the country, from Chicago to Portland, and now here in Dallas-Fort Worth.”
Later this week, Prairieland defendant Dario Sanchez will move to quash his State indictment in the District Court of Johnson County on January 22. Seventeen people were indicted on State charges in the Prairieland case and nine people were indicted on federal charges, forcing many defendants to fight their State and federal charges concurrently. Seven defendants pleaded guilty to federal charges in November 2025 and are awaiting sentencing.
Exorbitant bonds of up to $15 million are being used in the State cases to imprison people who do not represent a flight risk or a danger to the community. Supporters believe that pretrial detention is being used by the government to hinder the defense and to maintain the dominant narrative in the media.
The Prairieland cases, involving both state and federal charges, stem from a noise demonstration in solidarity with detainees at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, on July 4, 2025. After the protest, an officer with the Alvarado Police Department allegedly became involved in an exchange of gunfire soon after arrival. The officer allegedly sustained minor injuries, and was reportedly released from the hospital shortly afterwards. Authorities have still not provided hospital records to justify these claims, six months later. Alvarado police arrested ten people in the area, and a manhunt ensued in the subsequent days for another defendant. Eight more defendants were arrested in the days and weeks following the protest.