Abrego Garcia Returned to the United States to Face Two Alien Smuggling Charges in Tennessee
On June 6, 2025, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States to face two alien smuggling charges before a federal court in Nashville, a city in Davidson County, Tennessee. Abrego Garcia, 29, is a citizen of El Salvador who had been living in Maryland. He was removed to El Salvador in March, in what the government acknowledged was an administrative error.
A federal grand jury in the Middle District of Tennessee returned a sealed indictment on May 21, 2025, charging him with one count of conspiracy to transport aliens and one count of unlawful transportation of aliens under Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324(a), in case No. 3:25-cr-00115. After the indictment was unsealed and an arrest warrant issued, the United States brought him back from El Salvador, and he was arrested in the Middle District of Tennessee on June 6. The government said that, if convicted, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each alien transported.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced the charges at the Department of Justice on June 6. She said the grand jury found that Abrego Garcia had played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring over the past nine years, and prosecutors allege those transported included women and children. "Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice. This is what American justice looks like," Bondi said. Prosecutors asked the court to hold him in pretrial detention, arguing that he poses a danger to the community and a serious risk of flight.
The case stems from a traffic stop on November 30, 2022, when the Tennessee Highway Patrol stopped a vehicle driven by Abrego Garcia for speeding on Interstate 40 in Putnam County, with multiple passengers inside. Prosecutors say the investigation that followed led to the indictment. Abrego Garcia has previously denied prosecution claims about alleged gang ties. An indictment is only an allegation, and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
He was removed to El Salvador on March 15 and held in a Salvadoran prison. On April 10, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government must facilitate his release, a ruling GSM reported at the time. His June 6 return and indictment are the latest step in the case.
Related: Supreme Court: Government Must Facilitate Release of Abrego Garcia, Removed to El Salvador in Error
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国司法部总部罗伯特·F·肯尼迪大楼。Gunnar Klack 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington. Photo by Gunnar Klack, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2025-04-10Supreme Court: Government Must Facilitate Release of Abrego Garcia, Removed to El Salvador in Error
- 2025-06-06Abrego Garcia Returned to the United States to Face Two Alien Smuggling Charges in TennesseeThis story
