An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent whose DUI arrest in Chicago’s western suburbs drew headlines last year amid the federal government’s mass deportation effort pleaded guilty Friday to an amended charge of reckless driving.
Guillermo Diaz-Torres, 34, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was ordered to pay $2,850 in fines and court fees, complete alcohol counseling and attend a victim-impact panel as part of the misdemeanor plea deal.
Dressed in a suit and tie, Diaz-Torres answered a few perfunctory questions about his background and education during Friday’s brief court hearing before DuPage County Circuit Judge Christina Kye in Wheaton.
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Police arrested Diaz-Torres early Oct. 26 after the 2025 Kia Telluride he was driving jumped a curb and crashed into a hedgerow in Oak Brook. He had recently completed an 18-hour shift at the ICE holding facility in Broadview and had his gun in the backseat, according to police video footage and a police report obtained by the Tribune through an open records request last year.
His arrest came during the federal immigration enforcement campaign dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz,” which was carried out in the name of a young suburban woman killed by a man who was accused of driving drunk while being in the country without legal paperwork. The Department of Homeland Security said the operation targeted “the worst of the worst,” and it highly publicized the criminal records of some people its agents arrested.
A Westmont police officer encountered Diaz-Torres asleep behind the wheel at a suburban intersection at 1:30 a.m. Oct. 26. “The officer knocked on the (window) to wake the driver, who at that point accelerated the vehicle, in turn crashing into a tree line just past the intersection,” Oak Brook prosecutor Ann Marie Lampariello said in court Friday.
The car ended up in a hedgerow on the Oak Brook border, putting the incident under Oak Brook’s jurisdiction. The officer who investigated the crash alleged the motorist had “slurred speech, the odor of alcohol, and glassy bloodshot eyes,” Lampariello said.
“Based upon what the officer observed and his further investigation,” she said, “he would testify there was a willful and wanton disregard for the safety of persons on the roadway at that time.”
Lampariello said Diaz-Torres does not have a criminal record and already completed some requirements set under his plea, including at least 12 hours of counseling.
His attorney, Mike Baker, told the Tribune his client is still employed as a federal agent.
“I believe fatigue played a massive role in the circumstances underlying his case,” Baker said. “While I do not know the precise hours he worked on the day of the incident, I do know that he had very few days off and worked very long days. I am also aware that all of the underlying circumstances were very stressful and difficult.”
According to police video reviewed by the Tribune, Diaz-Torres was calm and cooperative with officers during the 20-minute roadside exchange.
“Do you know what happened today?” the Oak Brook police officer asked.
“100 percent,” Diaz-Torres responded. “Got off shift. I came here. You guys have a checkpoint. (This) doesn’t look good.”
On the video, Diaz-Torres said he had been in the area for at least 45 days and was heading straight to his Lombard hotel after working in Broadview from 6 a.m. to midnight.
He couldn’t account for his whereabouts during the roughly 90-minute period after his shift ended in Broadview, less than 10 miles away.
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The officers appeared to look over Diaz-Torres’ identification and proof of insurance as an Oak Brook police sergeant surveyed the crash aftermath.
“Do what you gotta do. None of that matters,” the sergeant advised the officer as they reviewed the motorist’s documents, the video shows. “This is unacceptable.”
As police further secured the area and checked Diaz-Torres’ background, an officer continued to ask the federal agent questions, including about his ICE duties.
“I know you guys are doing a lot of stuff,” the officer asked, according to the recording. “The protests still going on over there?”
“Yes, sir, yeah,” Diaz-Torres responded.
According to the police report, Diaz-Torres failed balancing tests, walking in a straight line and reciting the alphabet. He repeatedly struggled to keep his foot 6 inches off the ground as instructed while counting during the one-leg standing test, the video shows.
“I’m horrible at balancing,” he says in the recording. “I can’t balance.”
The video also shows police handcuffing and placing the ICE agent under arrest for DUI after he refused to undergo a breath analysis, telling police: “I’m not going to do that.”
On Friday, Diaz-Torres pleaded guilty to the amended charge of reckless driving, a misdemeanor. He faced up to a year in jail but, in exchange for the plea, was placed on one year’s court supervision.
Attempts to reach an ICE spokesperson were not immediately successful Friday.