New details emerged within the criminal indictment unsealed by the U.S. Department of Justice against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the citizen of El Salvador deported by the Trump administration in March and returned last week to face charges, including that Abrego Garcia allegedly lied to Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) troopers when explaining the travel itinerary that led him to Tennessee.
After The Tennessee Star was first to report that Abrego Garcia was stopped in Putnam County, Tennessee, on November 30, 2022, by a THP trooper who observed him speeding and failing to maintain his lane, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quickly confirmed the Salvadoran was suspected of human trafficking during the stop, and that Abrego Garcia told troopers he was traveling from St. Louis, Missouri, to Maryland.
In total, Abrego Garcia appeared to claim he departed from Houston, Texas, a known human trafficking hub, and traveled to St. Louis. For an unexplained reason, Abrego Garcia then deviated south, driving through Nashville, on his drive to Maryland. He also claimed that the men may later return to Nashville to work in the construction industry.
The criminal indictment, which accuses Abrego Garcia of smuggling illegal immigrants throughout the United States for nearly a decade as part of a criminal conspiracy, states that Abrego Garcia and his eight passengers were never in Missouri.
“When asked where they were traveling from, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia knowingly and falsely told the state trooper he and the passengers were coming from St. Louis,” according to the indictment, which also notes that Abrego Garcia “falsely stated to the state trooper that the Suburban passengers had been in St. Louis for two weeks doing construction.”
Federal investigators were able to obtain license plate reader (LPR) data corresponding to the vehicle, which DHS previously confirmed was owned by a convicted human smuggler, who was offered “limited immunity” in exchange for information about Abrego Garcia.
According to the DOJ, the LPR data showed the vehicle “had not been near St. Louis in the past twelve months and, in fact, had been in the Houston, Texas area within the week leading up to the traffic stop on November 30, 2022.”
The indictment also noted that the 2002 Chevrolet Suburban driven by Abrego Garcia was modified to include an extra row of seats instead of storage space. Though not noted within the indictment, Abrego Garcia appeared to suggest in the body-worn camera footage obtained by The Star that the vehicle had not been modified.
Notably, the indictment only states that Abrego Garcia was released after the traffic stop, without attributing the decision to the “Biden-era FBI,” as a THP spokesman told The Star in April.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
