A federal jury is expected to hear testimony Wednesday from a government informant who said a Chicago man passed along a bounty from the Latin Kings street gang calling for the murder of Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino at the height of Operation Midway Blitz.

The informant, who will be testifying under his full name per orders of the judge, is expected to take the witness stand following opening statements in the trial of Juan Espinoza Martinez.

A jury of six men and six women, plus two alternates, was sworn in Tuesday afternoon to hear the case, which has garnered national headlines. The trial is expected to end by Friday.

Espinoza Martinez, who has lived in Chicago for years but is not a U.S. citizen, is charged in an indictment with a single count of solicitation of murder for hire, which carries up to 10 years in prison.

According to prosecutors, Espinoza Martinez told a law enforcement source after an immigration agent shot a woman in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood on Oct. 4 “that he had dispatched members of the Latin Kings” to the area of 39th Street and Kedzie Avenue in response to the shooting.

The law enforcement source shared Snapchat messages that Espinoza Martinez had sent him saying, “2k on information when you get him” and “10k if u take him down,” according to the complaint.

A message also stated, “LK on him,” which was a reference to the Latin Kings, the complaint alleged. Included in the message was a photo of Bovino.

Though limited in scope, the case is expected to offer an important litmus test as immigration-enforcement operations continue to roil Chicago and other Democrat-led cities long targeted by President Donald Trump, including Minneapolis, where the killing of a U.S. citizen by an immigration agent earlier this month has sparked nationwide protests.

The jurors were empaneled Tuesday after filling out questionnaires about their backgrounds and ability to serve, including any opinions they might have about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.

Few details on each of the jurors were discussed in open court. One is a man who said he works as a contracted truck driver. Another man takes care of an elderly family member. One juror, a woman, said she once served on a jury in California. Another male juror told the judge he’d just landed a second interview for a new job.

At least three members of the panel have Hispanic surnames.

The case was held up by top Department of Homeland Security officials as an example of the violence and threats immigration agents were facing from gang members and even international drug cartels.

In the months since, however, evidence of Espinoza Martinez’s supposed gang affiliations has not materialized. Prosecutors vastly toned down that aspect of the case, first dropping mention of gang affiliation in the indictment handed up by a grand jury, then saying in a pretrial hearing they only intended to prove Espinoza Martinez had an “affinity” for the Latin Kings.

On Tuesday, the defense objected to prosecutors introducing a text string where Espinoza Martinez told an unidentified contact: “It’s going down bro my guys are ready in the vill (Little Village). Saints sd and 2Six being bitches. Kings on they ass n they scared.”

Prosecutors argued the conversation showed Espinoza Martinez was disappointed other gangs weren’t fighting back.

But Lefkow sided partially with the defense, saying the comments on Little Village can be shown to the jury, but not the references to the Latin Saints or Two-Six gangs.

She also excluded later text by Espinoza Martinez about “Chapo” having the Latin Kings’ back — a reference to former Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Prosecutors also wanted to play a short video clip that Espinoza Martinez forwarded after he was asked by the cooperator what his text about the bounty on Bovino meant.

The video, which was played for Lefkow on Tuesday, showed an unidentified man standing out at 26th Street and Spauling Avenue asking where all the gangbangers were.

“Now that ICE is out here there nobody out here … it’s a (expletive) ghost town,” the person said on the video, which Espinoza Martinez was not a part of.

Prosecutors said it showed Espinoza Martinez’s motivation for sending along the Latin Kings’ bounty offer.

But Lefkow ruled the video cannot be used because prosecutors cannot show it was a statement adopted by the defendant.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com