Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland resident who was erroneously sent to a prison in El Salvador and returned to the United States last week, pleaded not guilty on Friday to human smuggling charges.
In an arraignment at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal immigrants for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal immigrants for monetary gain.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Holmes declined to rule on whether Abrego Garcia should be detained while awaiting trial and said she would issue a written decision "sooner rather than later."
Prosecutors said there is "significant motivation" for Abrego Garcia to flee if released on bail. But after six hours of arguments and testimony, Holmes expressed skepticism about information provided by a federal investigator. Much of it was secondhand, she said.
The arraignment and detention hearing are the latest chapter in the more-than-three-month legal battle since the Trump administration sent Abrego Garcia, who was protected from deportation to El Salvador at the time of his removal, to a high-security prison in that country, in what the administration initially described as an “administrative error.”
Attorneys for Abrego Garcia and the Justice Department did not immediately return requests for comment.
The 29-year-old was arrested in Maryland on March 12 and sent to the notorious prison with hundreds of other men, who the Trump administration claimed were gang members.
The Trump administration has alleged that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13, which Abrego Garcia and his attorneys have repeatedly denied.
In April, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia to the United States. The matter also went to the Supreme Court, which too ruled that the administration should “facilitate” his return.
Despite the rulings, the administration resisted returning Abrego Garcia for months. Then last week, El Salvador returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S. to face the smuggling charges.
His attorneys argued in court filings this week that he is not a flight risk and that legal standards to keep him detained have not been met.
The government accused Abrego Garcia of trafficking drugs and firearms, abusing the women he transported and taking part in a killing in El Salvador. However, he is not charged with crimes of this nature.
Last week, the judge warned federal prosecutors that she cannot detain someone on claims.
Abrego Garcia’s indictment prompted Ben Schrader, the former chief of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, to resign.
“It has been an incredible privilege to serve as a prosecutor with the Department of Justice, where the only job description I’ve ever known is to do the right thing, in the right way, for the right reasons,” Schrader wrote on social media last week.
Ahead of Friday’s arraignment, Abrego Garcia's wife held a news conference and read a message from her jailed husband to reporters.
“‘To all the families still fighting to be reunited after a family separation, or if you too are in the detention, Kilmar wants you to have faith,’ he said,” Jennifer Vasquez Sura said. “‘These dark times are where we’re facing all the tribulations that God has put in our path. But keep praying and keep fighting that the light will always come, will come soon for all of us, and you too will be able to see your family again.’”
CORRECTION (June 30, 2025, 4:15 p.m. ET) A previous version of this article misstated Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s legal status. At the time of his removal from the country, Abrego was protected from deportation to El Salvador; he was not a legal permanent resident of the United States.
