Kilmar Abrego Garcia pleads not guilty to human smuggling charges [View all]
Last edited Fri Jun 13, 2025, 12:42 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: ABC News
June 13, 2025, 12:22 PM
Kilmar Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty Friday to human smuggling charges, one week after he was brought back to the Unites States from detention in El Salvador.
The 29-year-old has been the subject of a prolonged legal battle since he was deported in March to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison -- despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution -- after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which his family and attorneys deny.
The Trump administration, after arguing for nearly two months that it was unable to being him back, returned him the U.S. last week to face a two-count indictment alleging that, while living with his wife and children in Maryland, he participated in a yearslong conspiracy to haul undocumented migrants from Texas to the interior of the country.
Federal prosecutors say the conspiracy involved the domestic transport of thousands of noncitizens from Mexico and Central America, including some children, in exchange for thousands of dollars. Prosecutors have also asked the judge in the case, Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes, to schedule a pre-trial detention hearing in order to determine if Abrego Garcia should continue to be held in custody pending trial. Judge Holmes is expected to consider that motion on Friday.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/kilmar-abrego-garcia-scheduled-arraigned-charges-human-smuggling/story?id=122791176
Article updated.
Original article/headline -
June 13, 2025, 5:02 AM
One week after he was brought back to the Unites States from detention in El Salvador, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Tennessee on charges of human smuggling.
The 29-year-old has been the subject of a prolonged legal battle since he was deported in March to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison -- despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution -- after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which his family and attorneys deny.
The Trump administration, after arguing for nearly two months that it was unable to being him back, returned him the U.S. last week to face a two-count indictment alleging that, while living with his wife and children in Maryland, he participated in a yearslong conspiracy to haul undocumented migrants from Texas to the interior of the country.
Federal prosecutors say the conspiracy involved the domestic transport of thousands of noncitizens from Mexico and Central America, including some children, in exchange for thousands of dollars.
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