By Joe Johnson
A federal grand jury has indicted the brother of the man accused of murdering nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus three weeks ago.
Diego Jose Ibarra has been in custody since Feb. 23, the day after Riley's body was found because both he and brother Jose Ibarra looked like a person of interest in the murder investigation who was seein in surveillance camera footage.
Jose was charged with kidnapping and murdering Riley, and Diego has been detained ever since because he was in possession of a fake green card.
The government successfully argued in court that he be detained pending trial due to him being a flight risk. Among other things, prosecutors presented evidence of Diego belonging to a violent Venezuelan gang who in April 2023 assaulted a Border Patrol agent and absconded from an ICE alternative to detention program after being caught illegally crossing the border from Mexico into Texas.
He subsequently showed up in Athens, where he was arrested three times for misdemeanor crimes.
On Tuesday a grand jury in U.S.District Court in Athens indicted Diego Ibarra on one count of possession of a counterfeit immigration document, a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Meanwhile, Jose Ibarra is being held without bail at the county jail in Athens on the charges related to Riley's death. Another brother, Agenis
Ibarra is held in federal detention in Lumpkin, GA, for being in the country illegally.