Kilmar Abrego Garcia aka the “Maryland Man” Democrats went to bat after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador is now back in the country. That should resolve a dispute between the Trump administration and the courts which ordered the administration attempt to at least attempt to bring him back.
For months, the Trump administration has been locked in an intense standoff with the federal judiciary over court orders for the government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador, where he was mistakenly deported in mid-March, in a situation that one federal judge warned could present an “incipient crisis” between the two branches.
That’s the part of this story Democrats will celebrate. The part they won’t like is that Abrego Garcia is returning to face federal criminal charges.
Abrego Garcia has been indicted on two criminal counts in the Middle District of Tennessee: conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain.
The indictment unsealed Friday afternoon accuses Abrego Garcia and others of partaking in a conspiracy in recent years in which they “knowingly and unlawfully transported thousands of undocumented aliens who had no authorization to be present in the United States, and many of whom were MS-13 members and associates.”
AG Pam Bondi described Abrego Garcia as a human smuggler.
“Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a news conference in Washington. “He was a smuggler of humans and children and women.”
She added, “This is what American justice looks like.”
Two people familiar with the investigation said it made a significant leap forward when an imprisoned man recently came forward offering information about Mr. Abrego Garcia, but there was concern and disagreement among prosecutors about how to proceed.
Here’s a bit of what the 10-page indictment says.
In or around 2016, shortly after meeting each other, CC-1 and KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA agreed to work together to transport undocumented aliens for profit and private financial gain.
Co-conspirators outside the United States facilitated the travel of undocumented aliens from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, Mexico, and elsewhere to illegally cross the United States border into Texas without inspection.CC-6 was one of the primary sources of supply of undocumented aliens for the conspiracy, and many of the undocumented aliens supplied byCC-6 included MS-13 members and associates.
KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA and CC-1 ordinarily picked up the undocumented aliens in the Houston, Texas area shortly after the aliens had unlawfully crossed the Southern border of the United States from Mexico. KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA and CC-1 then transported the undocumented aliens from Texas to other parts of the United States to further the aliens’ unlawful presence in the United States.
During the course of the conspiracy, CC-1 was incarcerated for alien smuggling and was deported from the United States. During that period, CC-2, at the direction of CC-1, began working with KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA to transport undocumented aliens for profit. After CC-1was released from prison and deported, CC-1 illegally re-entered the United States and returned to work with KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA, CC-2, and other co-conspirators to transport undocumented aliens for profit…
KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA and CC-1 regularly required the undocumented aliens they transported to pay KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA and CC-1 in cash for facilitating their transport throughout the United States. The MS-13 members and associates transported by CC-2 refused to pay CC-2 for his transportation services, but the MS-13 members and associates KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA transported generally treated KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA with respect and also paid him for his transportation services. Co-conspirators later transferred, via Western Union and other means, at least some of these monies derived from the unlawful transportation within the United States to other co-conspirators in foreign countries such as Mexico and Guatemala as part of the wider alien smuggling operation.
According the the NY Times report, AG Pam Bondi made allegations about Abrego Garcia that weren’t in the indictment.
Ms. Bondi went on to level accusations against Mr. Abrego Garcia that were not included in the indictment, claiming that co-conspirators told investigators he had helped smuggle “minor children” and gang members during dozens of trips around the country. She linked him to more serious crimes, including murders and the abuse of women — even though he has only been charged in connection with smuggling.
But the mention of transporting gang members is included in the indictment as you can see above and also here:
On various occasions throughout the conspiracy, among the undocumented aliens KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA and his co-conspirators transported from Texas to other parts of the United States, were MS-13 members and associates.
As for the abuse of women, that is also mentioned in the indictment, though it’s true he’s not being charged with that so far.
During some of the trips KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA operated when he did not bring a close relative, CC-6 received reports from undocumented aliens that KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA had abused some of the female undocumented aliens .Knowing this was bad for business, CC-6 reported these allegations of abuse by KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA to both CC-1 and CC-2, and CC-6 directed CC-1 and CC-2 to cause KILMAR ARMANDO ABREGO GARCIA to stop the abuse.
Abrego Garcia is facing two charges: Conspiracy to transport aliens and unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens. He’s facing up to ten years for each person he’s convicted of transporting and the government is alleging he made as many as 100 runs. In short, if he’s convicted he will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars here in the US. If he completes his sentence, he would then be deported back to El Salvador.
AG Pam Bondi held a press conference to announce the indictment. Here it is.
