Judge dismisses Kilmar Abrego Garcia indictment on vindictive grounds
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw dismissed the indictment against kilmar abrego garcia on May 22, 2026, finding the Justice Department's prosecution was vindictive. The ruling ends the federal criminal case for now after Crenshaw said prosecutors failed to rebut the presumption that the case may have been brought for that reason.
Crenshaw's dismissal
Crenshaw granted Abrego Garcia's effort to throw out the charges, which accused him of human smuggling in two counts. He wrote, "The Court does not reach its conclusion lightly," and added that the objective evidence showed the government would not have brought the case absent Abrego's successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador.
The judge also wrote that the Executive Branch closed its investigation on the November 2022 traffic stop and reopened it only after Abrego succeeded in vindicating his rights. That finding leaves the prosecution's stated explanation in direct conflict with the court's view of the timing.
November 2022 stop
The case stemmed from a November 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, when State Highway Patrol pulled Abrego Garcia over and found numerous people in his vehicle. He pleaded not guilty. Crenshaw had already ruled that he demonstrated the prosecution may be vindictive.
During a nearly six-hour hearing in February, members of the defense team questioned two government witnesses about when the Justice Department decided to move to indict him. Robert McGuire, then the lead U.S. attorney in the Tennessee prosecution, said he decided to bring charges years after the initial stop because the evidence pointed to Abrego Garcia having committed a crime.
Removal and return
Abrego Garcia was removed from the U.S. in March 2025 and flown to El Salvador, where he was initially held at a supermax prison. An immigration judge had granted him legal status that forbade immigration authorities from deporting him to his home country, and a Trump administration official acknowledged that his removal was a mistake.
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration in April 2025 to facilitate his return, and the Department of Homeland Security resisted returning him for months before he was eventually brought back to the U.S. to face the charges. The dismissal now leaves the government without the indictment it used after his return, while the court's ruling ties the criminal case to his successful challenge to the earlier removal.
