Kilmar Abrego Garcia pleads not guilty to federal human smuggling charges

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WBFF) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to human smuggling charges Friday in a federal courtroom during an arraignment in the latest development in the high-profile case.

Abrego Garcia is a citizen of El Salvador and was deported from Maryland in March. Since then, he’s been a central figure in President Donald Trump’s amped up immigration efforts.

Amid a legal back and forth, including a federal judge in Maryland and the U.S. Supreme Court ordering the Trump Administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S., news broke last week that Abrego Garcia was coming back from El Salvador.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Abrego Garcia was brought back and immediately taken into custody on new charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee stemming from a 2022 traffic stop.

Witnesses on the stand in Nashville testified that Abrego Garcia was paid to transport people, including children, and also smuggled weapons in the vehicle.

Abgreo Garcia was pulled over by THP about 115 miles outside of Nashville, Tenn. for speeding and failing to maintain his lane. During the stop, a THP officer noticed there were eight other people in the vehicle, and despite Abrego Garcia telling the officer he was heading from Texas to Maryland, there was no luggage in the vehicle, according to a DHS document, “leading the encountering officer to suspect this was a human trafficking incident.”

“All the passengers gave the same home address as the subject’s home address,” the DHS report said.

The report suggests the passengers were intentionally not speaking enough English to provide clear answers.

Abrego Garcia told the officer the vehicle belonged to his boss, and he was bringing the passengers in the vehicle to Maryland for work.

FOX45 News confirmed the owner of that vehicle is Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes. In June 2020, Hernandez-Reyes pled guilty to “illegal transportation or moving of an alien,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office from the Southern District of Mississippi.

Hernandez-Reyes was involved in a traffic stop in December 2019 in Mississippi where there were nine people in the car. Human smuggling was suspected, according to the news release, and Homeland Security was notified. Eight of the nine were found to be in the United States illegally, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, and after interviewing everyone, “it was determined that seven passengers were being smuggled from Houston, Texas, to different locations throughout the United States.”

During Abrego Garcia’s traffic stop, he was not cited for the driving infraction but was given “a warning citation for driving with an expired driver’s license.”

“During the stop, a standard law enforcement database check returned information that prompted notification to the (FBI),” a statement from a spokesperson from THP stated.

The Department of Homeland Security’s memo about Abrego Garcia’s traffic stop notes the gang information sheet police in Prince George’s County, Maryland filled out following a 2019 arrest that involved Abrego Garcia and three other people, claiming the form validated Abrego Garcia as a member of the MS-13 gang.

Abrego Garcia was detained following an arrest in Hyattsville, Md. in a Home Depot parking lot in March. He was in the parking lot with three other people looking for day labor work. Court documents indicate the four men were arrested by police and questioned about gang ties. Abrego Garcia said he was not affiliated with any gangs and couldn’t provide the police with any details about the gang MS-13, or any of the other people.

A Hyattsville City Police Officer recognized one of the men in the group to be a member of MS-13, according to a statement provided by the Prince George’s County Police Department. The PGPD Gang Unit was on hand to assist with interviews and filled out a Gang Field Interview Sheet.

“The PGPD detectives had reasonable suspicion, based upon their training and experience, three of the four men, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, displayed traits associated with MS-13 gang culture,” the statement from PGPD read.

The gang unit, according to the GFIS, said the Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie Abrego Garcia was wearing “represents that they are a member in good standing with MS-13.”

Additionally, a “reliable source of information” said he is a member of the “Westerns” clique of the gang, located in upstate New York, according to the documents.

Abrego Garcia was not charged and was turned over to ICE where he was detained.

Documents from the U.S. Department of Justice show ICE officials used that GFIS to prove Abrego Garcia’s gang affiliation and said he “is not claiming fear of returning to his country” of El Salvador.

Trump Administration attorneys admitted in court documents that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was done “in error” since a previous immigration judge ruled he could be deported, but not to El Salvador – the very country he was sent.

Since then, however, President Trump and other officials have pushed back on the notion that his deportation was a mistake, and argued Abrego Garcia is connected to the dangerous MS-13 gang and the deportation would stand.

Testimony Abrego Garcia’s hearing in Nashville is excepted to continue in the days to come.

Follow Political Reporter Mikenzie Frost on X and Facebook. Send tips to mbfrost@sbgtv.com.