Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s first court date ends without custody decision

He denounced human traffickers after nearly six hours of testimony on Friday. Kilmer Abrego Garcia With a federal trial in Nashville on hold, it’s not close to learning whether he can release him from custody.

The hearing for the trial began with Abrego Garcia. MS-13 members He was charged with undocumented trafficking of migrants, conspiring with others to do so and sued not guilty.

Garcia’s legal team said on Friday that authorities Judge Barbara Holmes had time to consider the charges and that Garcia understood what he was charged before he officially entered the plea that stemmed from the 2022 traffic stop.

Federal criminal cases against Abrego Garcia are in the process of deporting him and The Trump Administration’s efforts To delay his return to the United States, even after the Supreme Court ordered the administration to “promote” his release.

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Abrego Garcia sat quietly during the lawsuit, wearing an orange undershirt and a red jumpsuit, and his gaze was mainly concentrated in the prosecutor’s and courtroom windows. Abrego Garcia’s mother, brother and wife attended the courtroom. Special Advocates (CASA), with members of the nonprofit court, were appointed, to help translate some to families and provided moral support.

During the hearing, the prosecutor submitted a special agent, Peter Joseph. He told prosecutors he was first assigned to the Abrego Garcia case in April 2025, when Abrego Garcia was still in custody in El Salvador.

Since then, Joseph said he has reviewed footage from Abrego Garcia’s 2022 traffic stop.

At the time, Joseph told prosecutors that Abrego Garcia was driving with nine passengers and was pulled over during the trip. From St. Louis Go to Maryland with an expired license.

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Six of the nine passengers in the vehicle were subsequently identified as illegally in the country, Joseph added that one passenger in the van was born in 2007.

Based on the evidence, Joseph said Abrego Garcia will be paid $1,000 per trip and will transport 50 people a month.

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In addition to smuggling, Joseph allegedly claimed that Abrego Garcia had engaged in inappropriate conduct with a minor girl he was transporting.

However, during the cross-examination of the defense, it was noted that Joseph was not present in some of the interviews with female sources.

However, Holmes allowed all his testimony without any impression.

US lawyer Robert McGuire also discussed two protective orders filed in 2020 and 2021 by Jennifer Vasquez Sula, wife of Abrego Garcia.

McGuire supported maintaining a detained detention trial in which Abrego Garcia is in custody, claiming it poses a risk to the public in general based on what he called a common view of patrol traffic stops on the highway and the evidence presented in the court that there were serious concerns about the transport of minors.

However, Will Allensworth, a federal government official defense attorney representing Abrego Garcia, argued that the testimony was confused and it is unknown how much it is based on hearsay. He insisted that Abrego Garcia will go straight to ice custody so there is no concern about the risk of flight.

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Another public defense counsel, Dumaka Shabazz, argued that the accused charges were not a crime of terrorism, and said he clearly supports his release. Shabaz also says that Abrego Garcia has experienced trauma and depression due to deportation and has strong connections with the community, and he has no incentive to escape as all his loved ones are in the US.

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Holmes did not set a date for the next court hearing, but said it would be decided soon.

Breanne Deppisch of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.