The illegal alien who was acquitted of murdering Kate Steinle by the state of California is suing the federal government for bringing its own charges against him.

Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was acquitted of first degree murder and manslaughter in December by a jury in California. He is between 45 and 52 - both ages appear in legal documents for him.

He claimed he accidentally fired the gun which killed Steinle, 32, as she walked along San Francisco's Pier 14 with her father and a friend in July 2015.

He was convicted of felony gun charges and in January was sentenced to three years imprisonment which was negated by the time he had already served behind bars.

He did not walk free, however, having been indicted on federal charges three days after the verdict in his state trial was returned.

Since December, he has been in federal custody and he now faces 10 years in a federal prison then deportation if convicted.

Had he not been charged federally, he would have been deported back to Mexico when following the conclusion of his case in January.

Jose Ines Garcia Zarate is suing the federal government for prosecuting him over the death of Kate Steinle, a 32-year-old woman he killed in 2015. Zarate is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who fired a gun, allegedly by accident, and killed Steinle. He was acquitted of murder by a Californian jury last year and was convicted of firearms charges. Federal prosecutors have charged him with their own gun charges now and he faces 10 years behind bars if convicted

Zarate had been in the United States illegally for decades and had been deported five times before Steinle's death. The earliest record of him in the US was in 1991 when he was arrested in Arizona for possessing drugs.

Months beforehand, he was released from the custody of San Francisco officials instead of being turned over to ICE officials over a 20-year-old drug charge.

In his lawsuit, Zarate claims they are the same charges he was convicted of and that he is being unfairly prosecuted by the government.

His attorneys say his prosecution was politically driven by President Donald Trump who often referred to Steinle's death as a reason to build a wall between the US and Mexico during his campaign.

In his 20-page lawsuit, he cites tweets written by the president which dub his acquittal 'a disgrace'.

He also makes reference to comments made by Attorney General Jeff Sessions about his case.

'This case was highly publicized, both locally and nationally.

In his lawsuit, Zarate complains about President Trump's tweets which came days before he was indicted by a federal grand jury. He says the prosecution was 'vindictive' and that he is being used as a political example

'Almost immediately after the death of Ms. Steinle, then presidential candidate Donald Trump began to use Mr. Garcia-Zarate as the symbol of the dangers of illegal immigrants and the need for a wall between the United States and Mexico,' the lawsuit reads.

He also claims that the federal government was involved in the state case and put pressure on prosecutors.

Zarate hopes his arguments will force a hearing on the matter and ultimately lead to the charges against him being thrown out.

On July 1, Steinle was walking along the pier with her father Jim and a friend when a bullet from the gun Zarate was holding pierced her aorta after striking her in the back.

Zarate ran away and was arrested hours later. He first told police he had been trying to shoot a seal then claimed the gun went off by accident when he stepped on it.

Zarate (pictured in July 2015) was homeless and claims he came across the gun. It had been stolen from a Bureau of Land Management Ranger's car. He said he shot Steinle by accident. The jury at his state trial could not disprove him and found him not guilty of murder and manslaughter

Steinle's parents Jim and Liz are shown in court in November 2017. The family said she had been failed at every turn by the government

The gun belonged to Bureau of Land Management agent John Woychowski who had left it unattended in a zipped-up compartment of a backpack in his car. It was stolen from the vehicle.

Among the complaints in Zarate's 20-page lawsuit is that Woychowski got none of the blame for Steinle's death and that his attorneys were not allowed to question him sufficiently during the state trial.

San Francisco officials said the government was using Steinle's death as a 'political football' after they filed charges against Zarate

'It was apparent from the questions by the prosecution that it intended to shield the ranger from any responsibility in this case, as any blame on the agent,' they say in the lawsuit.

Zarate claims the federal government's prosecution of him is 'vindictive' and violates his constituional rights.

He argues that it violates the Double Jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment which protects a person from being prosecuted twice for the same crime if no new evidence has emerged.

It does not protect defendants who have been acquitted at a state level from facing federal charges, however under the Dual Sovereignty Doctrine, so long as the second prosecution is not vindictive.

'Although the charges in this case are brought forth by a different sovereign than the original trial, that, in and of itself, does not negate the vindictive nature of this prosecution,' Zarate's lawyer says in the suit.

Steinle's family have not spoken publicly since his acquittal, saying at the time that they wanted to move on from the ordeal.

They complained at the time that none of the case or publicity surrounding their daughter's death had been on 'their terms'.

