JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 40-year-old mother of four who faced a federal indictment after an incident in which she was accused of punching a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and kicking an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer will be released pending her trial, a federal judge decided Monday at a detention hearing in Jacksonville.
Jennifer Cruz faces a federal charge of assaulting a federal officer in connection with the violent encounter with law enforcement on Jan. 13 during a traffic stop on Beach Boulevard.
She pleaded not guilty to the charge on Friday, and despite arguments from federal prosecutors that Cruz posed a flight risk because of connections to Mexico, a federal judge ruled Monday that she can be released on an unsecured $50,000 bond — meaning she won’t have to pay any money upfront, which is not uncommon in federal cases…