Rare conviction in Trump-hyped operation falls apart amid misconduct scandal

One of the only two felony convictions won by federal prosecutors in President Donald Trump's vaunted Chicago deportation operation is now falling apart.Anthony Gonzalez Alvarez, a 27-year-old Lyons man, pleaded guilty in April to a felony charge after striking a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle during Trump's Operation Midway Blitz last fall. His sentencing was set for July 22.On Thursday, prosecutors quietly filed a motion to delay it — offering to let Alvarez plead to a misdemeanor instead, which could mean no prison time at all.That's notable because Alvarez was one of only two people convicted among more than two dozen charged during the crackdown. Twenty-four others have been cleared entirely — through dismissed charges, grand jury refusals to indict, or a not-guilty verdict at trial.Now there's a reason the deal may be unraveling.Court records show Alvarez was indicted by the same grand jury that, on the exact same day, indicted the so-called Broadview Six — a group of protesters whose case later collapsed after a federal judge found a prosecutor had committed serious misconduct.That prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg, wasn't on Alvarez's case. But U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros — Trump's top law enforcement officer in Chicago — was in the grand jury room that day.Boutros gave jurors what prosecutors later called a pep talk, urging them to set aside their feelings on immigration cases. You're the umpire, and you can't come in and be an umpire in favor of [a] particular team, he told the panel, according to a transcript his office released.Defense attorneys say that the speech itself was misconduct.In the Broadview Six case, Mecklenburg dismissed skeptical jurors and vouched personally for the charges — telling the panel to trust her judgment. U.S. District Judge April Perry said she was incredibly shocked by what she read in the transcripts.The fallout has been swift. Ten defendants across three cases have had charges dropped — separate from the 24 cleared in the broader Midway Blitz prosecutions. Boutros has ordered a review of more than 100 grand jury cases going back nearly 20 years.Prosecutors have asked a judge to schedule a status hearing for late July or early August.