The top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts is blasting a Boston judge and the Suffolk DA for accusing an ICE agent of contempt of court for seizing an illegal immigrant ex-convict midtrial last week.

U.S. Attorney Leah Foley, appointed by President Donald Trump to head up the federal court in Massachusetts, said Wednesday that taking action against an immigration officer is “unlawful and erroneous” and in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.

“The fact that you disfavor ICE officers doing their jobs is not a basis for criminal charges. In fact, there is no legal basis for such charges,” Foley wrote to Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden.

She added it is “a felony offense to assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with an immigration officer’s efforts to duly execute the immigration laws of the United States.”

Foley had a similar warning for the judge in the case, writing to him: “There is simply no legal basis for you to hold federal officers in criminal contempt for carrying out their sworn duties.”

Foley filed a motion to remove and vacate any charges against the ICE officer.

The day started with Hayden denying prosecutors had any knowledge of ICE’s intent to arrest a defendant in the middle of his trial last week and said ICE’s escalating actions “jeopardize public safety.”

Boston’s top ICE official, Patricia Hyde, said later Wednesday the illegal immigrant had already served 11 years in jail for heroin and cocaine dealing before being freed in the Annie Dookhan lab scandal — and he altered his fingerprints to dodge identification.

Hayden said at a press conference Wednesday that “all of our actions in this case clearly demonstrated our intent to hold Mr. Martell-LeBron accountable, and none of our actions demonstrated any collusion with ICE to deprive him of his right to a trial.”

Hyde shot back, saying the matter has been turned into “a political football.”

The DA’s claim comes nearly a week after ICE agent Brian Sullivan detained Wilson Martell-LeBron during his trial outside the Boston Municipal Court Central Edward W. Brooke Courthouse last Thursday.

ICE claims Martell-LeBron is a 49-year-old Dominican national named Juan Carlos Baez. He is reportedly still being held in a detention facility in Plymouth, despite the DA and judge’s stated attempts to have him returned to court.

On Monday, Judge Mark Summerville dismissed the charges — related to allegedly making a false statement and forgery charges related to RMV documents — against Martell-LeBron “due to egregious and intentional prosecutorial misconduct.”

At the same time, Summerville found the arresting ICE agent Sullivan in contempt of court, leaving it up to Hayden’s office how to enforce the contempt charge.

“The judge in the case referred the matter to our court to consider whether or not we will be bringing forth any criminal charges,” Hayden said Wednesday. “That’s under consideration. That’s under review. That order to us was just recently given. We have a lot to go over in this case before we can determine exactly how it is we’re going to proceed.”

Hyde said on the Howie Carr radio show that her officer won’t be penalized for doing his job and the county “backed ICE into a corner,” forcing them to grab Martell-LeBron. She added there are “simpler ways” to do this if local authorities would “cooperate.”

“Using an ICE officer as a political football is disheartening,” she added, saying her agency is focused on ridding the community of criminals to protect “true victims.”

Hayden also addressed “larger issues related to the recent operations by ICE in Boston and Suffolk County.”

“I’ve watched ICE actions over the last few months, and I have concerns that those actions are harming our public safety goals,” said Hayden. “We’re now finding witnesses reluctant to cooperate with investigators due to fear of ICE; this harms public safety. We are seeing victims refuse to provide information about crimes against them due to fear of ICE; this harms public safety. We have seen a chilling effect on some of the most vulnerable in our communities due to fear of ICE; this harms public safety.”

The DA said his office will not “tolerate” ICE’s interference with public safety goals, but did not give many details about plans to prevent further incidents, saying he is “cautiously optimistic that something can be done.”

As of now, Hayden said, filing a lawsuit against the federal agency is “not on the table,” and the DA’s office is looking to work with ICE to prevent similar incidents “to the greatest extent possible.”

Hayden was also asked about claims from the defense that there is evidence at least one ADA with his office knew ICE’s planned arrest. State Police troopers involved in the trial also testified ICE notified them of their plans to arrest Martell-LeBron during the trial.

“As in any situation where a member becomes aware of federal immigration enforcement, the Troopers responded appropriately by neither assisting nor obstructing the federal action,” a State Police spokesperson said. “Participating in such a mission or sharing information about it would be contrary to the Department’s longstanding approach across several state and federal Administrations to these complex situations, which prohibits Troopers from participating in a mission solely to facilitate detention or deportation.”

Hayden maintained there is “no credible evidence” that prosecutors were informed of the ICE plans Wednesday.

“Our prosecutors in this case, every last one of them, acted ethically and acted appropriately,” Hayden said. “And we would encourage them to continue to do so.”

As the Herald has reported, Martell-Lebron years ago faced drug charges in both Middlesex and Essex counties, according to reports. He was found guilty in Middlesex Superior Court on two counts of cocaine trafficking and one count of heroin trafficking in 2009, and he was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

Meanwhile, in Essex County, Martell-Lebron pleaded guilty to one count of cocaine trafficking and one count of heroin trafficking in 2009. That five-year sentence was to be served concurrently with the Middlesex sentence. Then in 2017, those Essex County charges were vacated and dismissed with prejudice due to the Annie Dookhan drug lab scandal.

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