Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man the Trump Administration conceded had been wrongly deported to a notorious El Salvador prison, has been returned to the United States and is scheduled to be arraigned in a Nashville federal court on Friday.
A two-count Tennessee grand jury indictment, issued May 21 and unsealed Friday, alleges Abrego Garcia and unnamed co-conspirators were members of the MS-13 gang and “knowingly and unlawfully transported thousands of undocumented aliens” for profit between 2016 and 2025.
The indictment, filed in the Middle District of Tennessee, accuses Abrego Garcia “of conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain” and “unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain.” The indictment does not name nor charge any alleged co-conspirators.
In a separate motion filed Friday, prosecutors seek to keep Garcia in detention, alleging he is a flight risk and a danger to the community.
Chris Newman, an attorney representing the Abrego Garcia family said at a virtual press event Friday that he remained skeptical of the federal charges lodged at Abrego Garcia.
“I can tell you that we should all treat whatever charges that are being leveled against him with a high degree of suspicion,” Newman said.
“We should make sure that he gets a fair (trial) in court because he’s clearly not getting a fair hearing in the court of public opinion,” he said.
Abrego Garcia’s deportation served as a flashpoint for the Trump Administration’s mass deportations of immigrants without a hearing or ordinary due process rights that give immigrants —– and all U.S. residents —– the right to defend themselves against charges of illegal activities.
In April, the Supreme Court ruled the Trump Administration had to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States. For the next two months, administration officials said Abrego Garcia’s return was out of their hands and up to the government of El Salvador.
On Friday, in a nationally televised news conference, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi thanked Nayib Bukele, that nation’s president, for agreeing to Abrego Garcia’s release.
The criminal charges filed in Nashville are tied to a November 2022 traffic stop by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Abrego Garcia was driving an SUV with nine Hispanic men when he was pulled over for speeding on Interstate 40 in Putnam County about 80 miles east of Nashville, court records said. He was not charged in the incident.
Prosecutors now allege that further investigation revealed the stop involved Abrego Garcia smuggling migrants within the United States illegally.
Rob McGuire, who has served as acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee since last year, and lawyers for the Joint Task Force Vulcan —– a unit established specifically to investigate MS-13 gang members —– are listed in court records as prosecutors in the case.
ABC News, citing unnamed sources, reported late Friday that the decision to pursue an indictment against Abrego Garcia led to the abrupt resignation of Ben Schrader, former chief of the criminal division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office on Friday referred requests for information about the date and circumstances of Schrader’s departure, including a copy of any letter of resignation, to a human resources officer, who did not immediately respond on Friday.
Schrader, in a LinkedIn post two weeks ago, announced his resignation from the job he held for 15 years.
Schrader wrote “the only job description I’ve ever known is to do the right thing, in the right way, for the right reasons.”
Schrader did not give a reason for his resignation in his public post and did not respond Friday to a an email sent to his address at Vanderbilt University, where he is listed as holding a teaching post.
This story was originally published by the Tennessee Lookout.
