A federal judge found that the Justice Department prosecuted Kilmer Abrego Garcia solely because he successfully fought deportation.
Crenshaw dismisses Tennessee Kilmer Abrego Garcia lawsuit
A federal judge dismissed the human smuggling case against Kilmer Abrego Garcia after prosecutors found him guilty.
A federal judge has dismissed a criminal case against Kilmer Abrego Garcia, who was charged with human smuggling in Tennessee after being wrongly deported to El Salvador.
Mr Abrego’s lawyer had argued that the charges against him were persuasive and had asked for the charges to be dropped.
“The objective evidence here shows that the government would not have brought this prosecution had Mr. Abrego’s lawsuit seeking deportation to El Salvador not been successful,” U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw wrote in an opinion issued May 22.
Crenshaw wrote that the evidence before him “sadly reflects an abuse of prosecutorial power.”
Abrego is a “victim of a politicized and vindictive White House and its lawyers at the once independent Department of Justice,” his attorney Sean Hecker said in a written statement.
“We’re very happy that he’s a free man, and he deserves it,” Hecker said. “As this administration continues to chip away at our democracy, we remain grateful for an independent judiciary that calmly applies binding precedent to the facts.”
Federal immigration authorities arrested Mr. Abrego in Maryland and deported him to his native El Salvador, illegally violating an immigration judge’s order. His lawyers filed a lawsuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court ordered his return. Upon his return, an indictment against him was unsealed in the Middle District of Tennessee.
The human smuggling charges against Abrego stem from a November 2022 traffic stop in Cookeville, Tennessee. He was stopped by Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers, who released him without charging him.
“The Executive Branch has concluded its investigation into the November 2022 traffic stop,” Crenshaw wrote. “Only after Mr. Abrego successfully vindicated his rights did the executive branch reopen the investigation.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, released a statement praising the ruling.
“Today, a federal judge made clear what we have known for years: that the Department of Justice was engaged in a relentless prosecution of Kilmer Abrego Garcia,” Van Hollen said. “As the judge stated, this is a blatant ‘abuse of prosecutorial power’ and should disturb all Americans. This decision is a powerful repudiation of President Trump’s lawless Department of Justice and a victory for the constitutional rights of all of our countrymen.”
Contributor: Eduardo Cuevas
