A federal judge in Tennessee dismissed human trafficking charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, finding that the investigation into Abrego’s alleged human trafficking done by prosecutors in the Middle District of Tennessee with the support of counterparts in Washington was “tainted.”
The Maryland man’s mistaken deportation to El Salvador last March, as News4 and Telemundo44 were first to report, made him the face of the immigration debate under the second Trump administration and kicked off a legal battle that continues more than a year later.
In court documents obtained by NBC News and News4, the federal judge called the case “vindictive,” “selective” and “in violation of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.”
“The objective evidence here shows that, absent Abrego’s successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the Government would not have brought this prosecution,” U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw writes.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement picked up Abrego on March 12, 2025, near the College Park IKEA. According to Abrego’s wife, he had just left the house with his young son and was heading to the bus stop to pick up his older kids.
The following weekend, Abrego’s wife said, El Salvador’s president posted a video to X that showed her husband being frog walked by guards in the notorious Salvadoran prison CECOT. His wife had no idea where he was until she recognized him in the video.
His deportation violated his protected immigration status, which had been “withholding of removal” since 2019. A U.S. immigration judge placed that order on Abrego to shield him from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faces threats of gang violence there.
The Trump administration admitted it was an “administrative error,” but claimed he was in MS-13, and dragged his return on for months as the legal case to return Abrego continued.
The human trafficking charges in Tennessee were brought against Abrego the same day he returned to the U.S. in June 2025.
The charges stemmed from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding, during which Abrego was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Police in Tennessee suspected human smuggling, but he was allowed to drive on.
Abrego’s lawyers argued for the case’s dismissal on the grounds of “vindictive prosecution,” calling the smuggling charges “preposterous.”
The judge’s ruling appears to agree.
“The Executive Branch closed its investigation on the November 2022 traffic stop,” Crenshaw wrote on Friday. “Only after Abrego succeeded in vindicating his rights did the Executive Branch reopen that investigation. What the Government labels as “new evidence” was not new as a matter of law.”
“The prosecutor’s subjective good faith does not cure the retaliatory taint,” the court documents continue. “Absent Blanche’s tainted investigation, Agent Saoud would not have called McGuire, Singh would not have brought him into the fold, and McGuire would not have sought an indictment against Abrego. The indictment then provided the Executive Branch cover to comply with Judge Xinis’ order to facilitate Abrego’s return to the United States as soon as possible.”
Crenshaw says while there is insufficient evidence of “actual vindictiveness,” he believes the Trump administration has failed to rebut the “presumption of vindictiveness,” which is all he needs to dismiss these charges.
“Instead of investigating the November 2022 traffic stop to identify who was responsible for the human smuggling, Blanche started the investigation to implicate Abrego,” Crenshaw writes. “He did so to justify the Executive Branch’s decision to remove him to El Salvador. The tainted investigation identified the long existing body camera video, the THP report, Hernandez-Reyes, and his phone data.”
“The evidence it labels as newly discovered was available to be obtained with due diligence long before April 2025,” Crenshaw writes.
Abrego’s legal team told News4 they are celebrating the legal victory.
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a victim of a politicized, vindictive White House and its lawyers at what used to be an independent Justice Department,” Sean Hecker, Abrego’s criminal attorney, told News4 in a statement. “We are so pleased that he is a free man. Justifiably so. As this Administration continually chips away at our democracy, we remain grateful for an independent judiciary that will dispassionately apply binding precedent to the facts.”
Politicians also commented on the case dismissal, including Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who travelled to El Salvador to talk to Abrego before he was released from CECOT.
“Today, a federal judge made clear what we have long known: the Department of Justice was engaged in a vindictive prosecution against Kilmar Abrego Garcia,” Van Hollen said in a statement shared with News4. “As the judge stated, this was a blatant ‘abuse of prosecutorial power’ – one that should disturb all Americans. This decision is a strong repudiation of Trump’s lawless DOJ and a win for the Constitutional rights of everyone in our nation.”
This is a developing story. Stay with News4 for updates and more information.
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