A Colorado sheriff’s deputy who was punished for helping federal immigration agents arrest a Brazilian college student has resigned.
Alexander Zwinck is no longer with the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, spokesperson Heather Benjamin confirmed Tuesday. His resignation led the state’s attorney general to drop a lawsuit accusing him of illegally sharing information with federal immigration agents.
Zwinck had already informed the court that he planned to step down. After that, a judge dismissed Attorney General Phil Weiser’s lawsuit against him last Thursday at the request of both sides.
Weiser filed the case to enforce a new Colorado law that bars local government workers, including police, from giving personal information about people to federal immigration authorities. The law was passed in June, just two weeks before Zwinck allegedly helped agents arrest the 19-year-old nursing student.
Michael Lowe, Zwinck’s lawyer, did not respond to requests for comment.
In his court filings, Zwinck denied that he intentionally broke the law, which was signed by Gov. Jared Polis.
The lawsuit claimed Zwinck shared the student’s driver’s license, vehicle registration, and insurance details in a Signal group chat used by members of a drug task force, including immigration agents.
Federal officers in the chat told Zwinck the student had no criminal record but was living in the U.S. on an expired visa. According to the lawsuit, Zwinck then gave them her location, kept her in his patrol car for a few minutes while asking about her accent and birthplace, and later let her go with a warning. He also described her vehicle to agents and told them which way she was headed so they could arrest her.
During an internal investigation, Zwinck said he did not know about the new law and had no interest in immigration enforcement.
The sheriff’s office concluded that Zwinck had in fact helped federal agents. Another task force member had also shared information, leading both deputies to be suspended without pay. Two supervisors were disciplined, and a third was given counseling.
The case unfolded as Colorado and other Democratic-led states have passed laws to push back against President Donald Trump’s broader immigration crackdown. Trump has worked with hundreds of state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide to identify immigrants living illegally in the U.S. and detain them for possible deportation.
