Mistakenly deported man Kilmar Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to human smuggling charges in a Nashville courtroom on Friday after being returned to the U.S. from a Salvadoran prison to face trial.
The Trump administration had resisted court orders directing Abrego Garcia be returned to the U.S., but he was swiftly returned last week as the Justice Department announced charges for the Maryland resident, who is a Salvadoran national.
The new charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee after Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding, and an officer questioned why he was traveling with so many people without luggage.
The indictment alleges Abrego Garcia falsely told the officer he was driving construction workers from St. Louis, but he was actually on one of multiple trips organized to transport undocumented migrants.
Attorneys for Abrego Garcia have cast the case as trumped-up charges and a way for the administration to save face after allowing him to be wrongly imprisoned for nearly three months.
“The government disappeared Kilmar to a foreign prison in violation of a court order. Now, after months of delay and secrecy, they’re bringing him back, not to correct their error but to prosecute him,” attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg told The Hill in a statement when Abrego Garcia was returned last week.
“This shows that they were playing games with the court all along. Due process means the chance to defend yourself before you’re punished, not after. This is an abuse of power, not justice.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said last week that the case was based on “recently found facts.”
“Thanks to the bright light that has been shined on Abrego Garcia, this investigation continued with actually amazing police work, and we were able to track this case and stop this international smuggling ring,” she said.
Abrego Garcia has been charged with unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens and a related conspiracy charge. He stands accused of making more than 100 trips from Texas to other parts of the country over the course of years to transport migrants in exchange for payment.
Court filings make numerous references to Abrego Garcia’s alleged membership in MS-13, saying he was also often accompanied by members of the gang.
But his family has denied he had any affiliation with the gang.
A review of court records by The Hill shows the accusation is largely based on a tip from one confidential informant.
Abrego Garcia was initially sent to a notorious Salvadoran prison among more than 200 Venezuelan and Salvadoran men swiftly removed by the Trump administration on claims they were gang members.
The Associated Press contributed.
Updated at 11:53 a.m. EDT
