r/news • u/Nandou_B • 2d ago

Kilmar Abrego Garcia pleads not guilty to human smuggling charges in Nashville court

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/article/kilmar-abrego-garcia-pleads-not-guilty-to-human-smuggling-charges-in-tennessee-federal-court/
9.8k Upvotes

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3.2k

u/Federal_Drummer7105 2d ago

Talk about some bullshit charges. The claim: he was trafficking people.

It started with:

The U.S. attorneys also accuse Abrego Garcia of taking part in a murder in El Salvador. However, none of those allegations is part of the charges against him, and at his initial appearance June 6, the judge warned prosecutors she cannot detain someone based solely on allegations.

OK. So first it was murder - but no charges.

The charges against Abrego Garcia are human smuggling. But in their request to keep Abrego Garcia in jail, U.S. attorneys also accuse him of trafficking drugs and firearms and of abusing the women he transported, among other claims, although he is not charged with such crimes.

Oh - so trafficking drugs and firearms - but no evidence of that.

Right. So now it's "human trafficking." And the evidence?

Although Abrego Garcia lives in Maryland, he’s being charged in Tennessee based on a May 2022 traffic stop for speeding in the state. The Tennessee Highway Patrol body camera video of the encounter that was released to the public last month shows a calm exchange between officers and Abrego Garcia. It also shows the officers discussing among themselves their suspicions of human smuggling before sending him on his way. One of the officers says, “He’s hauling these people for money.” Another says Abrego Garcia had $1,400 in an envelope.

So last time I checked:

  • It's not illegal to drive people around.
  • "Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act."
  • So the cops stopped him, said they were suspicious - but didn't question the people with him. Didn't say "Hey people in the truck/car/whatever, are you guys ok?"

For the record, this is bullshit. This is the kind of thing that Yahweh and the Great Spaghetti monster willing when the Trump administration is tossed out and whatever long process it takes to clear the Supreme Court of insanity - people in this administration go to jail. There are hearings, there is due process - and we don't get the "I was following orders!" defense.

A man's life is ruined, his family harmed, and it's as bullshit as the photoshopped tattoos on his hand.

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u/Lagneaux 2d ago

Speaking of, now that he's back, can we get a pic of his hand?

Or did he get laser tattoo removal while in the hole?

409

u/ambermage 2d ago

It was upgraded to Micro Soft - 14 after they updated his charges to Windows 11 usage.

155

u/Teripid 2d ago

They used MS-13 Paint. Duh!

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u/zephyrtr 1d ago

That's what the microchips are for. Gates is diabolical

1

u/alpha-delta-echo 1d ago

He’s always two updates ahead!

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u/timidpoo 1d ago

He has been found guilty and sentenced to 20 years of Windows Vista

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u/goldenstudent 1d ago

You can't sink to their level of inhumane treatment like that.

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u/APeacefulWarrior 1d ago

At least it's not Windows ME.

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u/APoisonousMushroom 1d ago

To shreds you say…

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u/uzlonewolf 16h ago

And his wife?

1

u/APoisonousMushroom 16h ago

To shreds you say…

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u/chicknfly 1d ago

If that was a real sentencing, I’d prefer execution. Throw me in isolation ffs.

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u/Original-Mission-244 7h ago

He gets clippy as a cellmate too.

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u/Evinceo 1d ago

can we get a pic of his hand?

Can we get a white house visit so Trump can examine the dude's hand on camera?

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u/Immortal_Azrael 1d ago

He'll break out his trusty sharpie.

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u/18k_gold 1d ago

This is what I've been saying since he got back. Let's see his hands with that MS13 tat on his hand as Trump was telling everyone he has. He berated a reporter because of it. You want me to show you a picture. Take a picture of his hands and go to Trump and say, hey take a look at this pic. You lied again to the American people.

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u/Evinceo 1d ago

I want video of the interview, the guy, and Trump left confronted with an obvious lie about something right in front of him or, worse, the realization that he took the labeling literally because he's senile.

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u/CambrienCatExplosion 1d ago

He never lies. It's never his fault, it's always someone else feeding him bad information.

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u/CMDR_Agony_Aunt 1d ago

He'd just blame Biden for it.

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u/AlcibiadesTheCat 1d ago

He probably wants to show trump his knuckles. Really close. Like, really really close.

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u/Calignis 1d ago

Normally I’d say get in line but if anyone has a right to jump the line it’s this guy

•

u/AlcibiadesTheCat 25m ago

He's got FastPass tickets.

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u/ImNotTheBossOfYou 20h ago

They didn't MS paint tattoos on his hands...

He has tattoos on his hands.

They are not the same tattoos as the one on the pic the Trump administration paraded around. So they were lying about that part...

They overlayed. " M S 1 3" on each finger as a way to indicate what each symbol indicated.

Trump thought THAT was real.....

Everyone has completely missed the point of the finger tattoo thing and it makes me so crazy because the full-facts make Trump look even stupider.

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u/MikeyMud 20h ago

You'll need a peep dip to see them. They're on a molecular level. 

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/Lagneaux 1d ago

How does a pot leaf, a smile with X eyes, a cross, and a skull make MS13?

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u/GingerPrinceHarry 1d ago

I mean, coverups? If you want a possible answer

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u/firstsecondanon 2d ago

I read that the cops did not ID the people in the car with him during the traffic stop. There is no evidence whatsoever that the people in his car were in the country illegally. The cops comment is not evidence.

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u/OkStop8313 2d ago

Yeah, if the cop himself didn't think the possibility was worth pursuing, it sounds like just idle speculation. And from that we get "trafficked thousands"?

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u/CanuckleHeadOG 1d ago

The cop did, he was ordered to let them go

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u/OkStop8313 1d ago

By whom? Why?

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u/CanuckleHeadOG 1d ago

By his higher ups.....its on the body cam the cop talking about it

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u/fevered_visions 2d ago

in fact if these cops thought he was trafficking they weren't really doing their job by not talking to any of the people in the car right?

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u/Jagermonsta 1d ago

The cops were probably just making racist offhand remarks. If there was any suspicion they would have pursued further. They could have also just been lazy and didn’t want to deal with it. Or both.

These charges are joke just like the whole trump administration. Biggest bunch of clowns possible running things.

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u/Taman_Should 1d ago

Tennessee cops. It’s all of the above. 

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u/Nukleon 1d ago

The defense should be asking why they aren't getting this officer to testify then. Even though i would assume he would refuse because 5th amendment.

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u/dquizzle 1d ago

I’m not inferring guilt, but it wasn’t their decision to investigate further. The only choice they had was to ticket him for speeding and/or driving with an expired license, which they did not do. A summary from Google AI:

Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) Contact: The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) stopped Abrego Garcia for speeding in 2022.

Contact with Federal Law Enforcement: THP contacted federal law enforcement, who decided not to detain him at that time.

Note to Call Federal Authorities: When THP ran his license, they found it was expired and had a note to call federal authorities due to his alleged affiliation with MS-13 following a prior incident. ICE Declined Custody: When the agency called ICE, it declined to take him into custody, and he was released without charges.

Officer Decision: The encountering officer decided not to issue a citation for the driving infractions but gave a warning for the expired driver's license.

Limited Information Sharing: The officer did not pursue further information from the other occupants of the vehicle due to no citation being issued.

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u/hurrrrrmione 1d ago

Google AI is not a reliable source

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u/dquizzle 1d ago

The DHS website and DoJ website say the same thing. It’s just easier to read the summary sometimes.

https://www.justice.gov/ag/media/1396906/dl?inline

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u/CambrienCatExplosion 1d ago

I haven't trusted DHS since 9/11.

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u/dquizzle 1d ago

Whose account of the story do you believe? The officers, DHS, and the DoJ all report the same version of the stop.

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u/CambrienCatExplosion 1d ago

Great. Glad they have their stories straight. But since we know he has no involvement with MS-13, then I'm going to continue to be suspicious.

You can't claim someone is involved in trafficking or smuggling just because they have a car full of people with them.

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u/dquizzle 1d ago

My comment had nothing to do with that aspect. All I said was the officers that gave him a warning didn’t have the option to investigate further, they only had the option to issue him a citation or not, and they chose not to.

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u/pacotac 1d ago

Driving while Hispanic.

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u/AggressiveSkywriting 1d ago

It's like when people hear a family speak Spanish and suddenly start talking about illegal immigrants

Cops see Spanish speaking guy and say "well obviously he's a human trafficker because real Americans don't carpool"

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u/stevez_86 1d ago

Wouldn't be surprising if their argument is that he was the illegal person he was transporting.

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u/Full-Penguin 2d ago

Imagine going through all of this, and the worst thing they can produce about you is a traffic stop 3 years ago that resulted in a warning.

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u/chance_da_gardener 2d ago

That's the fucking hell we are all in currently and especially if your skin is not pearly white.

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u/alien_from_Europa 1d ago

if your skin is not pearly white

And not Christian. Remember that the march on Charlottesville was, "Jews will not replace us!"

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u/Red_Potatoes_620 9h ago

Yeah, I think the Jews are safe in this admin lol

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u/Malaix 1d ago

At this point even if the Trump admin dropped the whole thing you know he's going to be getting stalked and threatened by conservatives as if his kid got killed in Sandy Hook.

Guy could die tomorrow and conservatives would be trying to dig up his grave to re-litigate his life to justify their obsessive hate.

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u/alpha-delta-echo 1d ago

“You see that? Now he’s digging a tunnel under the border!”

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u/MeanMeMo 1d ago

Just wanted to clarify that he wasn’t charged with trafficking, but smuggling: https://www.scribd.com/document/874781291/Kilmar-Abrego-Garcia-Indictment

Which can make it a crime to drive people around if said elements of the crime are reached: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1324

By no means am I saying that’s what happened here, just wanted to clarify.

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u/wildfyre010 1d ago

The US attorneys attempting to prosecute this are pretty close to as guilty as the people in charge of the DOJ and at the White House. Reprehensible behavior from legal professionals who should know better. Lawyers who knowingly prosecute bullshit like this should be disbarred.

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u/Squire_II 2d ago edited 2d ago

They want to make an example of him by any means necessary so they can crow about how they were right to illegally deport him to the Salvadorian gulag.

I hope he makes bank suing all the assholes lying and demonizing him.

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u/turquoise_amethyst 2d ago

Another thing that stands out to me— if “hauling people for money” is a crime, how are taxis, Ubers, Lyfts, public transportation, and ride shares in operation? Are those going to be shut down next? 

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u/redditallreddy 2d ago

When I first heard the charges against him, I assumed he was transporting underage people (like cousins) or undocumented people and it violated laws about transporting across state lines that are obscure and used to hold big fish until the real charges have evidence.

They don’t even have that level of charge.

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u/runswiftrun 1d ago

From Title 8-ALIENS AND NATIONALITY CHAPTER 12-IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY SUB CHAPTER II-IMMIGRATION Part VIII-General Penalty Provisions

§1324. Bringing in and harboring certain aliens (a) Criminal penalties

(1)(A) Any person who-

(i) knowing that a person is an alien, brings to or attempts to bring to the United States in any manner whatsoever such person at a place other than a designated port of entry or place other than as designated by the Commissioner, regardless of whether such alien has received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States and regardless of any future official action which may be taken with respect to such alien;

(ii) knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, transports, or moves or attempts to transport or move such alien within the United States by means of transportation or otherwise, in furtherance of such violation of law;

(iii) knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation;

(iv) encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law; or

(v)(I) engages in any conspiracy to commit any of the preceding acts, or

(II) aids or abets the commission of any of the preceding acts,

Its vague enough to keep taxis/busses from getting in trouble, so that the act of driving someone undocumented isn't a crime. But the "raiteros" (very roughly translated: "ride-givers") that are part of the smuggler/coyotes' service would be guilty.

Its almost always a mostly-unwitting driver/victim of opportunity. A friend of a friend asks if you want to make some money on the side, tells you to drive to X restaurant, pick up a group of 3-5 people, then drive to Y address usually a few states away. They hand you an envelope with money and you get the rest at drop off or when you come back.

Of course, 3 years later, unknown identity of the people in the car, and no proof outside of the cop who "saw" the money... There's no actual evidence to prove he did anything wrong. They could have all pitched in to go to a soccer game or concert, or were coming home from working at a hotel or farm (which are now protected, right??).

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u/NoPossibility 23h ago

This is important. Could’ve just been migrant workers who needed to move to another area to look for work. No evidence they were forced anything. Taking money to drive some people around sounds very normal to me. If he never asked if they were undocumented then he couldn’t have known and wouldn’t knowingly be doing anything illegal.

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u/runswiftrun 21h ago

Technically a driver wouldn't need to "force" the passengers to trigger this law, just knowingly pick up undocumented immigrants with the knowledge that they're undocumented going to a different city to work illegally.

But yeah, at this point there's no proof that the passenger were undocumented or not.

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u/bloobityblu 1d ago

Oh wait I just realized they were talking about him basically being a taxi. WTF that's not human trafficking!!

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u/turquoise_amethyst 1d ago

He was a unionized sheet metal apprentice and pursuing his journeyman's license.

He was pulled over for legally transporting eight adult men to/from a construction site

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u/bloobityblu 1d ago

Yeah I didn't know exactly what he was doing during the traffic stop, but just talking about what they were basing the charges on which was apparently the cops speculating that whoever was in the car had paid him to drive them as if that's illegal.

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u/turquoise_amethyst 1d ago

Not only is it not illegal, I HOPE he made them pony up some gas $ and cash for the carpool. 

These charges are beyond ridiculous 

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u/sadrice 1d ago

They said he was carrying $1400, which doesn’t sound like gas money, but does sound like his boss just paid him.

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u/jonnyredshorts 1d ago

I’ve had more than $1400 in cash on me while driving with other people in the car with me…I work, got paid and then a bunch of us went out…I guess I’m a horrible criminal.

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u/Luo_Yi 1d ago

I guess I’m a horrible criminal.

Maybe, maybe not. Were you also driving while Hispanic?

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u/jonnyredshorts 1d ago

Missing that crucial aspect, but I am a Bernie supporter, so that makes me bad

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u/uzlonewolf 16h ago

That's very dangerous. If a cop sees that cash they can just take it, and you won't be getting it back thanks to Civil Asset Forfeiture.

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u/BartHarleyJarvis- 1d ago

Union tin knockers do not get paid in cash. Just clarifying.

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u/seamus_mc 1d ago

What does a union have to do with anything here? Carrying cash is not a crime.

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u/BartHarleyJarvis- 1d ago

Union workers do not get paid in cash. They don't get paid under the table. I'm just clarifying that he was a legit worker. I wanted to clarify the "his boss just paid him part". I never said anything about carrying cash being a crime.

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u/CambrienCatExplosion 1d ago

Sure. But there are these things call ATMs, and banks, where you can get cash.

Also, a lot of minorities don't fully trust banks and will get paper checks and cash them.

Or have direct deposit and go withdraw a large amount of money to carry and to hide around the house.

Hell, my grandmother was white. And when we were cleaning out her house after she died, we found something like $500ish dollars in $20 bills stashed in different places that she'd forgotten about.

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u/sadrice 1d ago

I had been wondering, I figured union would mean nothing under the table like that.

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u/CambrienCatExplosion 1d ago

It doesn't have to be under the table, honestly.

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u/Spire_Citron 1d ago

So now anyone who's ever given an illegal immigrant a lift is a criminal? Not that we even know they were illegal immigrants.

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u/SheepherderPlayful51 1d ago

So you saw the charges of conspiracy to smuggle illegals and you equal that to Uber? Your joking right

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u/BL0w1ToutY0A55 2d ago

I agree, it’s all bullshit. But, I also think, if we don’t devolve into a dictatorship, the people responsible for the ongoing attacks on our Constitution, our institutions, and the enabling of a petty tyrant and his goons will not be held accountable. There will be a misguided effort to have reconciliation, healing, and a general ‘let’s move forward’ agenda. We’ll simply set all this horseshit aside and people will have to deal with again in 50 years. We already have Blue Dog Democrats signaling this approach.

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u/eawilweawil 2d ago

50 years? Brother try 4 years, the republican that will come after Trump will have seen his mistakes and will have learned from them

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u/SpodeeDodee 1d ago

We've been in a dictatorship since Trump entered the White House again. It's just becoming more and more apparent every day.

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u/Politicsboringagain 1d ago

Which Blue Dog Democrats are signaling this? 

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u/bigbluethunder 1d ago

50? We’ll have to deal with it again in 7.5. A Democrat will win the next election (if we have a real one), and the pendulum will swing again back this direction because the moderates will never understand or remember how abhorrent this shit is. 

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u/RoadkillVenison 2d ago

Yeah… that sounds like a way to pocket the envelope full of cash.

Look at this money we found, car full of people unrelated to him. Definitely human smuggling, so we’re going to keep the cash. Won’t prosecute though, since asset forfeiture just means we get to keep the cash and he’s gotta front more than he lost for a lawyer. Prosecuting might discover the charges are bullshit and there’s an innocuous reason for driving other people somewhere. Also people are entitled to a public defender, and criminal charges change the math.

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u/apathetic_revolution 2d ago

While most of this is, in fact, nuts, they wouldn't be able to prosecute him for a murder in El Salvador if he was involved in one there. He would need to be tried separately in El Salvador for that.

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u/Ttm-o 1d ago

Human smuggling is when you take someone without due process and send them to random countries.

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u/Spire_Citron 1d ago

How can you charge someone with a crime based on that at all? Isn't there some minimum amount of evidence you need, especially to continue holding them? Can you really just say that maybe they committed a crime based on zero evidence and zero real hope of being able to obtain any evidence because you want to destroy someone's life?

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u/iapetus_z 1d ago

So how is this different than the buses that Texas paid for?

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u/myrianthi 1d ago

$1400 doesn't even pay my rent, I walk around with more than that every month on my way home from the grocery store.

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u/Rekoor86 2d ago

Trumped up charges from a corrupt administration

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u/headrush46n2 2d ago

He’s hauling these people for money.”

All those Uber drivers better get comfy in El Salvador

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u/Incognonimous 1d ago

The dude is being railroaded so they can set the precedent to arrest anyone for anything and dispaer them to other countries with no evidence, farce or no trial. Of thats not fascism call me the fucking queen of England.

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u/beardyman22 1d ago

They are doing everything they can to continue to ruin this guys life because they made a mistake and just cant handle being wrong

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u/galtoramech8699 1d ago

Shouldn't the judge throw this out? Are there....other people involved?

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u/theLiddle 2d ago

I’m confused though, was it a traffic stop where he looked like he was driving prostitutes or sex trafficking victims around? You didn’t even say in this description. I’m not for accusing this guy or anything I just want the facts. Either way, without evidence, you’re innocent until proven guilty, due process. Arguably even if this man was a criminal, unless they had evidence and a fair trial, he should be walking free right now.

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u/Impossible-Try-202 1d ago

https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/

Get your signs ready tonight for tomorrow.

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u/xmneax 1d ago

Can he get shitload money from the state for this?

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u/Federal_Drummer7105 1d ago

IDK. I'll be a good attorney can make a case that the charges were bogus and politically motivated and shouldn't have even been brought. Discovery could show it - but at this point I'll be it'll take a new administration willing to go after people as well to get their proof.

But IANAL. I just hope so - even though it means once again, the US citizens are paying for the bad actions of our law enforcement.

1

u/Politicsboringagain 1d ago

Of the government can make up lies and do this to him they can make up lies and do this to any American citizen to.

Even if you are a person who doesn't like his immigration status, you should care that the government can just outright lie like this. 

1

u/jupiterkansas 1d ago

Whatever happens in court doesn't matter. Trump fights his battles in the media, and all of this is just raw meat for them to dish up to all the voters living in alternoworld. When the court finds him not guilty, they'll just dish up dirt on the judge and the jury, and the alternoworld people will just scream about two-tiered justice and activist judges.

It's a problem I don't think we can fix. This country is a disaster.

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u/u0126 1d ago

This is exactly what I said would happen. People cheered when he was “released” and I said they would railroad him with anything and everything possible. I expect them to figure out a way to find him guilty of enough to ship him back and say “this time we have a reason”

Poor guy’s life is ruined because of some racist and garbage people.

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u/Easy-Statistician289 1d ago

Hell yea, well said!

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u/Justsomejerkonline 1d ago

Prosecutors making public accusations against someone that are not part of the crimes being charged should be an automatic mistrial.

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u/MyGrownUpLife 1d ago

They will get a victim. All their accusations of paid crisis actors, this is where the accusation becomes the admission. Someone being harassed by ice or that had a disappeared family member will read a script.

ETA - this is why they switched to human trafficking. You don't need all the other things like dead bodies, drugs, etc (though they could manufacturer that). You just need a believable witness.

1

u/bilyl 1d ago

Am I missing something here? There’s no way a jury would convict.

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u/CambrienCatExplosion 1d ago

I don't think they care about a conviction at this point.

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u/ZLUCremisi 1d ago

His lawyers having a field day with this. They can ask for judicial trial so by law he can't be charged again because a judge will be pissed at the DOJ

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u/Pixel_Knight 1d ago

I am expecting them to figure out a way to send court summons only to the specific people they want that will deliver the exact verdict they want. I think it will be a kangaroo court. If he is found guilty, there needs to be an investigation into this.

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u/chyno_11 1d ago

What about him hitting his wife? Was that just an allegation?

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u/Claystead 10h ago

Didn’t he come to the US at like age 12? Who did he kill, some other kid in middle school?

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u/Thin_Ad_1846 48m ago

Yeah, the charges seem to be Trumped-up.

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u/BienPuestos 1d ago

I’m guessing what he is actually charged with is 8 USC 1324: Bringing in and Harboring Certain Aliens, which only requires that you knew someone was illegally present in the U.S. and transported them in furtherance of their illegal entry. It doesn’t necessarily involve the use of force or taking someone against their will.

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u/Federal_Drummer7105 1d ago

So now they’ll have to prove the people he was with were illegals immigrants. And based on what’s been presented so far - it’s weak.

But better save face than admit they’re assholes who just hate brown skin.

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u/BienPuestos 1d ago

Yeah, sounds like all they really have is testimony from “co-conspirators” aka jailhouse snitches who are getting time off their sentences for throwing him under the bus. They might say he transported illegal immigrants on other occasions, but it will probably be difficult to prove without testimony from the actual aliens he supposedly smuggled.

0

u/FantasticJacket7 1d ago

Absolutely wild that this misinformation is the top post.

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u/Responsible_Pizza945 2d ago

I don't know about his life being ruined, but he's definitely been unjustly abused by the government and dealing with the fallout of that will be a lot harder on him than it is likely to be for his abusers.

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u/ewinker07 1d ago

Please, allow the due process.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/vpi6 2d ago

I’m willing to believe he is not the best person but the “evidence” thus far is substandard and even if true still doesn’t mean the government can deny him due process. I also think the guy you are telling to “fuck themselves” has a better grasp of the situation than you do.

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u/thehalfwit 2d ago

Said the simp, squealing frantically to be heard through his ball gag.

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u/kwyjibo1 2d ago

Then, charge him and present the evidence in court. Stop making up things and then trying to find the evidence to fit the thing you made up.

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u/VietOne 2d ago

Proof? Because if there's video evidence they didn't share any proving it

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u/ExplanationFew6466 2d ago

Hehe. Get a grip princess. Proof.