Federal Judge Dismisses Indictment Against Wrongly Deported Nashville Man
A federal judge ruled prosecutors vindictively charged Kilmar Abrego Garcia after he successfully fought his wrongful deportation to El Salvador.
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE — A federal judge dismissed criminal charges Friday against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 30-year-old Maryland resident who was wrongly deported to El Salvador last year, ruling the prosecution was vindictive and selective.
U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw found that federal prosecutors improperly reopened a closed investigation against Abrego Garcia after he successfully challenged his deportation through the courts.
“Then-Attorney General Robert H. Jackson warned his fellow prosecutors long ago of the danger of picking the person first and the crime second … That is the situation here,” Crenshaw wrote in his Friday opinion.
Deportation Battle Preceded Charges
Abrego Garcia entered the United States illegally as a teenager and was deported to an El Salvador prison in March 2025, despite a 2019 immigration judge order that prohibited his removal to the country he said he fled due to gang violence fears.
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the federal government to “facilitate” his return to the United States in April 2025 after Abrego Garcia fought the deportation. Following his successful legal challenge, federal prosecutors reopened an investigation stemming from a two-year-old Tennessee traffic stop.
A grand jury returned a two-count human smuggling indictment against Abrego Garcia in June 2025. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and sought dismissal, alleging they were brought in retaliation for his high-profile victory against deportation.
Judge Finds Vindictive Prosecution
Crenshaw agreed with the defense arguments, determining the timing of the charges demonstrated prosecutorial vindictiveness.
“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,” Crenshaw wrote. “The Executive Branch closed its investigation on the November 2022 traffic stop. Only after Abrego succeeded in vindicating his rights did the Executive Branch reopen that investigation.”
The case originated from a traffic stop in Tennessee that occurred in November 2022. Federal authorities had initially closed their investigation into the incident before reopening it following Abrego Garcia’s successful deportation challenge.
Legal Victory for Immigration Rights
The dismissal represents a significant legal victory for Abrego Garcia, who appeared at a February 26, 2026 hearing at a downtown Nashville courthouse alongside his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura.
Crenshaw had previously ruled in October that evidence supported claims of vindictive prosecution, setting the stage for Friday’s dismissal order.
The case highlighted tensions between immigration enforcement and prosecutorial discretion, with Abrego Garcia’s attorneys successfully arguing that the federal government targeted him for exercising his legal rights to challenge wrongful deportation.
Abrego Garcia’s legal team contended throughout the proceedings that the human smuggling charges were filed solely in response to his successful court battle against deportation to El Salvador, where he claimed to face threats from criminal gangs.
