Another Operation Midway Blitz defendant gets a deferred prosecution deal

Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune on Mar 10, 2026

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CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with a 19-year-old man accused of assaulting a deputy U.S. marshal during a traffic stop in suburban Hazel Crest last fall, making it the latest case related to Operation Midway Blitz on track to an end without a conviction.

Oscar Jesus Rosales Vergara was charged with a misdemeanor count of assaulting a federal agent in the course of official duties. Prosecutors on Tuesday agreed to drop the case after six months if Vergara stays out of trouble.

As part of the deferred prosecution deal, Vergara admitted Tuesday he “struck” the deputy U.S. marshal on the shoulder on Sept. 30 after agents pulled over the pickup truck he was in on Interstate 80 to serve an arrest warrant on the driver for an immigration violation.

When the occupants refused to get out of the vehicle, one of the agents broke out the rear passenger window and tried to pull out the driver, prompting Vergara to reach through the window and make contact with the deputy, according to the agreement

As U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel McLaughlin walked through the agreement, Vergara initially took issue with the word “struck.” After a brief sidebar, his lawyer, James Vanzant, told the judge his client just wanted it known the contact with the agent, which was captured on video, was “fleeting and essentially incidental.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan said “struck” was a neutral term and agreed the video showed Vergara “reached out the window and he waved his arm and hit the marshal on the shoulder.”

“I’m not claiming there was a great deal of force,” Hogan said.

The case is the latest in a string of federal charges — mostly involving the alleged assault of federal officers during protests or immigration enforcement operations — stemming from Operation Midway Blitz to fizzle in court.

Of the total of 32 defendants charged in U.S. District Court during the two-month operation, 17 have had their cases dismissed before trial, while another was acquitted by a jury.

Vergara’s case, meanwhile, is the second to proceed via a deferred prosecution agreement.

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