A federal judge agreed Monday to temporarily block the imminent deportation of an immigrant from Vietnam, who officials say is dangerous and was wounded during a shooting in April in Burlington.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement had scooped up Hieu Van Tran, 33, of Burlington as a danger to the community last month and planned to remove him quickly from the United States, records show.

Court records and ICE indicated Tran has a long criminal history in Vermont that involves 14 court convictions, including for federal cocaine trafficking, domestic assault, driving while under the influence, disorderly conduct and various violations of state probation and federal supervision.

Police also know Tran for frequently trading guns and drugs and for him getting shot near the left ankle during a confrontation with another felon at 48 Isham Street in Burlington earlier this spring, records show.

Tran’s removal back to Vietnam was considered imminent, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont filed a motion Aug. 1 asking the federal court in Burlington to pause the deportation proceedings because he is a material witness in his wounding.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Wendy Fuller wrote that authorities want to obtain Tran’s deposition so it can be used as testimony in a federal gun prosecution against the man who happened to shoot him in the leg.

Nazareth Gonzalez, 23, of Winooski, the suspect in the April 28 shooting of Tran, is due in federal court on Wednesday for a new criminal complaint charging him with illegal possession of a firearm as a multi-time convicted felon.

Gonzalez reportedly has four felony convictions, but Burlington Police did not provide any details about them in a court affidavit for the state charges. State Judge David Fenster later ruled there was inadequate details in the affidavit to find probable cause to charge Gonzalez with being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm after an aggravated assault conviction in March 2023.

Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle agreed Monday with Fuller that Tran was a risk to flee if released on bail. Doyle also made his own legal finding that Tran was a danger to the community based on various court filings, including the presentence investigation report in his earlier federal cocaine trafficking conviction case.

Doyle urged Fuller to try to move the deposition along in time. Fuller said the move has been slowed because Gonzalez recently changed defense lawyers in his federal gun case. Fuller said the federal public defender’s office last week determined it had a conflict of interest. Rutland lawyer Matthew D. Anderson is now assigned and Fuller said she would reach out to him after the hearing.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in the criminal complaint that Gonzalez wounded Tran in the left leg during the Isham Street shooting about 4:45 p.m. A second shot missed, police said. Gonzalez and his companion had both pulled up their hoods before the shooting witnesses told police, records note.

Burlington Police said they used a torniquet to help control the bleeding on Tran, who was one of two people riding on motorized scooters. Tran’s companion fled when the shooting started, police said.

The shooting was over a financial beef between the two men and the failure of Gonzalez to pay back money Tran had loaned him earlier, court records show. Tran asked repeatedly for his money back and Gonzalez refused, records show.

Things got heated and threats of a fist fight were made, the investigation found. Tran said he never threatened to use a firearm because as a felon he was prohibited from possessing a gun, records show.

Tran had worked for three years at Keurig Green Mountain in Essex when he later got to meet Gonzalez when he was hired, records show.

The night after the shooting, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Lt. Robert Currier Jr., a member of the ATF Task Force, spotted Gonzalez in a car in St. Albans, where his mother Amy Barrett lives, records show. Police moved in when the car stopped at Maplefields on Fairfax Road about 8:30 p.m.

Gonzalez was arrested on state charges of attempted second degree murder, reckless endangerment and being a person prohibited from possessing a firearm, the ATF said.

Tran, who walked with a noted limp into the fourth floor courtroom on Monday, was dressed in a khaki-colored prison uniform from the Strafford County Department of Corrections in Dover, N.H., where he has been detained in recent weeks on behalf of ICE.

As he sat at the defense table waiting for the court hearing to begin, Tran mentioned he thought when he left the N.H. prison Monday he was headed for a plane trip back to Vietnam. Instead he ended up in federal court in Vermont.

“I’d go right now,” Tran said about leaving for Vietnam.

Doyle said Tran could only be held for a reasonable period as a material witness. Fuller said she would reach out to the new lawyer for Gonzalez to try to ensure the case kept moving forward.

Gonzalez’s girlfriend, Taylor Vuley, 27, of Morehouse Drive in Colchester was later charged with being an accessory after the shooting and false information to police in the case, the ATF said.

ATF Special Agent Sam Brown noted the handgun used in the shooting was the same firearm possessed by Noor “Tek” Mohamed, 25, of Burlington during a confrontation as the bars were closing on Church Street about 2 a.m. June 21.

Mohamed caused a disturbance and got into a scuffle with Burlington Police officers when he ignored their orders and physically resisted, officials said. Instead of complying with the officers, Mohamed reached into his waistband to grab his loaded firearm, resulting in an intense and perilous physical struggle between Mohamed and law enforcement over the gun, Burlington Police said.

A witness for the Isham Street shooting case reported that Mohamed stated he provided his gun to Gonzalez because he thought Tran was going to kill Gonzalez, the ATF said.

Mohamed was believed to be the second person in the 2015 Honda Civic that confronted Tran, police said.

Isham Street runs between Loomis Street and Hickok Place and runs parallel west of a short stretch of North Willard Street.

Tran continued to deal drugs and commit crimes knowing that a criminal conviction would likely result in him being deported, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher said during a federal sentencing in October 2019.

Tran was sentenced to two years in federal prison for trafficking cocaine. Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford, who noted the presentence report indicated Tran had 12 guns, also imposed three years of supervised release when discharged from prison.

Tran soon violated his terms when South Burlington Police Sgt. Sean Pope arrested him on five new charges, including resisting arrest, eluding police, negligent operation and leaving the scene of an accident in November 2023. Burlington Police also arrested him for attempted burglary and unlawful mischief, Cpl. Eugene Baccaglini reported.

That same month Crawford imposed an 8 month sentence for violating his supervised release conditions.

The long-expected deportation of Tran never happened while President Joe Biden was in office (January 2021 to January 2025).

The special ERO team focuses on the identification, arrest, detention, and removal of persons that violate immigration laws or are illegally present in the United States.

President Donald Trump when he took office Jan. 20 promised ICE would focus on removing “The Worst of the Worst” that did not belong in the country and were making it unsafe for citizens. It included murder, rape, domestic violence, DUI, drugs, gang-related matters and more.