Inmate Serving 39 to 102 Years Sues Trump and White House Official Over Use of Murder Case in Campaign

Brandon Ortiz-Vite filed the handwritten federal complaint after his March conviction drew national attention in campaign materials, naming President Donald Trump and White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Steven Cheung as defendants and seeking $75 million along with a public apology and citizenship.

Prison staff and inmates mocked him once the case reached a national audience, according to the filing. Fox News reported the demands.

Ortiz-Vite is serving a sentence of 39 to 102 years for the March 2024 murder of Ruby Garcia in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Garcia's body was found with multiple gunshot wounds along a road. The pair were in a romantic relationship and were arguing at the time of the killing. He turned himself in and confessed to the murder on March 24, 2024.

Ortiz-Vite had been deported after a 2020 arrest for driving while intoxicated and later re-entered the United States illegally. His DACA status expired on May 10, 2019. President Trump visited Grand Rapids in 2024 and referred to Ortiz-Vite as "America's problem" during remarks. The former candidate also used Ortiz-Vite's mugshot in campaign commercials.

Matthew Borgula, a criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, told Fox News Digital that the lawsuit is unlikely to succeed because of presidential immunity and the absence of a constitutional violation. Tudor Dixon, a former Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate, described the filing as an example of "arrogance and entitlement" from convicted murderers.