CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Charlottesville man who was indicted in December 2025 on two counts of coercion and enticement of a minor, one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, and one count of possession of child pornography and charged a second time in February 2026 with assaulting a federal law enforcement officer, was indicted yesterday on both the original assault allegation and two additional counts of assault on law enforcement officers in April 2026. A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging Gustavo Quintero, 25, with three counts of assault on a federal law enforcement officers. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia maintains a zero-tolerance policy for assault on law enforcement officers,” First Assistant United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci said today. “Anyone who assaults a federal law enforcement officer will be arrested and prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law.”
“The assault of any officer conducting their lawful duty is simply unacceptable. Quintero was indicted by a grand jury after grave allegations of his sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl. Compounding the seriousness of those initial allegations, his alleged conduct towards officers carrying out their public safety duties resulted in additional charges today,” said Homeland Security Investigations Washington, D.C. Acting Special Agent in Charge Kai Wah Chan. According to the indictment, on January 15, 2026, agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), along with officers from the Albemarle County Police Department traveled to the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail to execute a federal arrest warrant on Quintero. During an interaction with Quintero, he spit directly into the face of one of the agents. Months later, on April 13, 2026, Quintero assaulted officers “M.G.” and “C.E.,” causing bodily injury to both. M.G. and C.E. were both officers at the Western Virginia Regional Jail, who were performing services for the United States Marshals Service. The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Albemarle County Police Department. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.