FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)— A Fort Myers-based federal judge is facing an impeachment effort after ordering the release of a man convicted of hijacking a plane.
U.S. Rep. Greg Steube announced Thursday he filed articles of impeachment against Senior U.S. District Judge John E. Steele, accusing him of abusing his authority after ordering ICE to release Maikel Guerra Morales from immigration custody.
Morales, a Cuban national, was convicted of aircraft piracy after federal prosecutors said he helped hijack a commuter plane in Cuba in 2003, forcing the pilot to fly to Key West in what investigators said was an attempt to reach the United States. He was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.
Miakel Guerra Morales
After completing his prison sentence, ICE took Morales into custody while trying to deport him.
In a July 8 ruling, Judge Steele found the government had held Morales for more than six months without showing there was a significant likelihood he could be removed in the reasonably foreseeable future. The court said ICE intended to deport Morales to Mexico but failed to show Mexico had agreed to accept him or that there was a concrete plan in place to remove him. Steele ordered Morales released from ICE custody under federal immigration supervision.
Steube argued the ruling put public safety at risk.
“This is exactly the kind of activist judicial overreach the American people are sick of,” Steube said in a statement. “ICE had a convicted aircraft pirate in custody while pursuing his removal, and Judge Steele ordered him released within 24 hours despite obvious public safety concerns.”
Steube’s impeachment resolution also argues the judge gave the executive branch less than 24 hours to appeal the ruling before Morales was released.
The Department of Homeland Security also criticized the decision.
“This activist judge forced ICE to release a criminal illegal alien who was convicted and sentenced to 22 years for hijacking a plane back into American communities,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
Steele has served as a federal judge in the Middle District of Florida since 1990 and currently serves as a senior judge in the Fort Myers Division.
WINK News has reached out to Judge Steele for comment and is also working to learn where Morales is now following his release from ICE custody.
For Judge Steele to be removed from the bench, a majority of the U.S. House would first have to vote to impeach him. The U.S. Senate would then have to convict him by a two-thirds vote.