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yesterday

Abrego Garcia Moves to Toss Smuggling Indictment, Alleging Vindictive Prosecution

The defense says prosecutors retaliated for his legal challenge to a wrongful deportation, putting the government's motives before the court.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who lived in the U.S. legally with a work permit and was erroneously deported to El Salvador, is seen wearing a Chicago Bulls hat, in this handout image obtained by Reuters on April 9, 2025. Abrego Garcia Family/Handout via REUTERS/File photo
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Katheryn Millwee holds a portrait of Kilmar Abrego Garcia outside the federal courthouse Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Overview

  • Abrego Garcia’s lawyers filed a 35-page motion in Nashville asking Judge Waverly Crenshaw to dismiss the case as a vindictive and selective prosecution.
  • A temporary stay on his pretrial release is set to expire Friday; a magistrate set a noon Thursday deadline for any government objection, with a hearing Monday if DOJ contests release.
  • The May indictment—unsealed when he was returned to the U.S. in June—charges conspiracy to transport aliens and unlawful transportation tied to a November 2022 Tennessee traffic stop; he has pleaded not guilty.
  • The defense says the government built the case using heavily incentivized cooperators and notes a judge found prosecutors failed to link public MS-13 claims to evidence against him.
  • He was deported to El Salvador in March despite a 2019 order, then returned after a Supreme Court directive; a Maryland judge has restricted immediate re-deportation and required notice, as DOJ has signaled possible removal to a third country if he is freed, with trial set for Jan. 27, 2026.