Latest news with #humanSmuggling
Fox News
4 hours ago
- Fox News
‘Maryland man,' accused MS-13 gangbanger, could face death penalty over deadly border disaster: fmr prosecutor
One former federal prosecutor said Kilmar Abrego Garcia could face death penalty-eligible charges if the government finds enough evidence tying him to an incident that left 50 migrants dead. Abrego Garcia was indicted on charges of alien smuggling and conspiracy by a grand jury in Tennessee earlier this month. The indictment says Abrego Garcia played a "significant role" in a human smuggling ring that was in operation for nearly a decade. During a news conference, Attorney General Pam Bondi described Abrego Garcia as a full-time smuggler who racked up over 100 trips throughout the U.S., transporting MS-13 gang-affiliated members, children and women. According to the indictment, Abrego Garcia and several co-conspirators are accused of working together to transport illegal immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador and Mexico to the U.S. for "profit and private financial gain." During one of these trips, Abrego Garcia's alleged co-conspirators' tractor trailer, which was carrying over 150 migrants, overturned, leaving more than 50 migrants dead and many others injured, authorities said. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Neama Rahmani told Fox News Digital this incident could be the basis for death penalty-eligible charges, if federal prosecutors choose to go down that route. "Even if Abrego Garcia wasn't in the vehicle, as long as he's a co-conspirator, they could potentially seek the death penalty," Rahmani said. "The classic law school example is this: You and a co-conspirator rob a bank. Your co-conspirator shoots someone during that robbery. Prosecutors can seek the death penalty even though you're not the one who actually pulled the trigger." "If the Justice Department can prove that Abrego Garcia was involved in the alien smuggling death, even though the death occurred in Mexico, as long as the intention was to bring those individuals to the United States, that may appropriately be a death penalty case," he added. Rahmani said the deaths wouldn't need to be intentional for federal prosecutors to bring up death-penalty-eligible charges. "Prosecutors don't have to prove that Abrego Garcia intended to cause any injuries or even intended to hurt anyone. As long as they can show that he intended to smuggle people into the United States and a death resulted, that's enough," Rahmani said. "Prosecutors just have to prove knowledge and intent of the smuggling operation as well as causation. The death resulted therefrom. That's enough for a death penalty case." Rahmani said that being a co-conspirator makes people criminally liable for conduct during the crime, but noted that prosecutors don't typically seek the death penalty in instances like this. Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ and Abrego Garcia's lawyer for comment.
CBS News
9 hours ago
- CBS News
Federal agents arrest two people tied to human smuggling operation in L.A.
Two people tied to human smuggling operation in LA arrested by federal agents Two people tied to human smuggling operation in LA arrested by federal agents Two people tied to human smuggling operation in LA arrested by federal agents Federal agents arrested two people at a San Fernando Valley home described as a human smuggling hub tied to national security threats, according to Customs and Border Protection. "The location has been repeatedly used to harbor illegal entrants linked to terrorism," CBP wrote in a post to X. The arrests happened on Friday afternoon while CBP's Special Response Team served a search warrant at the house located on Napa Street in North Hills. Federal agents arrested seven Iranian nationals at the same address earlier this week, some of whom were on the FBI Terror Watchlist and "associates of an Iranian human trafficking network," according to CBP. "CBP is taking aggressive action to shut down smuggling networks and remove national security threats before they can do harm," CBP wrote in a post to X. Residents in the North Hills neighborhood said someone new had moved into the home about six months ago. "There was a bunch of young people and they would hang out at night, pacing on the phone, sitting on the curb," neighbor Claudio Bonoli said. "Talking to my neighbors, they say they were kind of intimidated by them." The idea that people on a terror watchlist were living on their street rattled Bonoli and some of his neighbors. "It's only two houses from my house," he said. "This has been a really great, quiet neighborhood for a long time. So, it's totally surprising."
CBS News
18 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Kilmar Abrego Garcia asks to remain in federal custody, and Justice Department agrees
Why Kilmar Abrego Garcia will remain in jail for now Washington — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who was mistakenly deported back to his home country and then returned to the U.S. for federal prosecution, may remain in federal custody, after his lawyers and prosecutors sparred over whether he would be deported immediately upon his release while awaiting a criminal trial. His lawyers asked that a magistrate judge's order granting him pretrial release not be issued until July 16, when he is scheduled to appear in court again for another hearing. In a filing Friday, prosecutors agreed to the delay. The court must still approve the request. Abrego Garcia's lawyers said in a filing with the court that the Justice Department has been giving conflicting statements as to whether the Trump administration will move to deport him before he stands trial. They said that "because we cannot put any faith in any representation made on this issue by the DOJ, we respectfully request to delay the issuance of the release order until the July 16 hearing on the government's motion for revocation." "A short delay will prevent the government from removing Mr. Abrego and allow time for the government to provide reliable information concerning its intentions," the lawyers wrote. Abrego Garcia is to be tried on human smuggling charges, but the Trump administration had said that if he were to be released pending trial, he would swiftly be taken into custody by immigration authorities and deported. Justice Department prosecutors signaled Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would detain and move to deport Abrego Garcia to a third-country — one that is not his country of origin, El Salvador — if he were to be released from criminal custody, as was expected. But a Justice Department spokesperson then suggested Abrego Garcia would not be deported until after his criminal trial concludes. In announcing that Abrego Garcia had been indicted earlier this month, Attorney General Pam Bondi said if he is convicted on the smuggling charges, Abrego Garcia would be returned to El Salvador after completing his sentence. Abrego Garcia was charged with two counts arising out of what federal prosecutors said was his participation in a yearslong conspiracy to smuggle migrants into the U.S. unlawfully. He pleaded not guilty to both charges at a hearing earlier this month. Abrego Garcia was ordered released by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes after she denied a Justice Department request to keep him detained while awaiting a criminal trial. The Justice Department appealed Holmes' order, but a federal district judge on Wednesday declined to pause her decision. Holmes said earlier this week that Abrego Garcia would remain in U.S. Marshal custody until at least Friday while his lawyers and prosecutors submitted additional filings on his conditions for release. U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw set a hearing for July 16 to consider the government's bid to revoke the magistrate judge's release order.
Forbes
19 hours ago
- Forbes
Kilmar Abrego Garcia Case: Attorneys Say Justice Department May Deport Maryland Man
Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia want their client kept in a Tennessee jail over fears the federal government may try to deport him before his trial on human smuggling charges, according to multiple outlets, casting doubt on the Justice Department's purported plans to instead try Abrego Garcia on the charges before deporting him. Katheryn Millwee holds a portrait of Kilmar Abrego Garcia outside the federal courthouse Wednesday, ... More June 25, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved Abrego Garcia's attorneys asked the judge on Friday to extend the Maryland man's stay in jail because the Justice Department 'has made directly contradictory statements on this issue in the last 18 hours, and because we cannot put any faith in any representation made on this issue by the DOJ.' The lawyers were referencing a statement reportedly made by a Justice Department attorney Thursday who told a judge the U.S. wants to deport Abrego Garcia deported to a 'third country'—instead of El Salvador, where he was initially deported in March. Later, Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin told the Associated Press it intended to try Abrego Garcia on the smuggling charges before any deportation was carried out. There is not a trial date for Abrego Garcia on the federal smuggling charges. Abrego Garcia's previously asked the Tennessee judge to order the man's return to Maryland, where he would stay with his brother, as a way to prevent his deportation, according to Politico. Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts : We're launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day's headlines. Text 'Alerts' to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here . What Are Kilmar Abrego Garcia's Charges? Abrego Garcia was indicted by a federal grand jury on two criminal charges of conspiracy to transport aliens and unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens, counts linked to a 2022 traffic stop in which he was pulled over for speeding. Attorney General Pam Bondi alleged Abrego Garcia's activities were part of a 'full-time job.' Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported in March to El Salvador, was brought back to the U.S. after the Trump administration revealed the charges. Previously, multiple Trump officials and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele insisted they did not have the power or authority to bring Abrego Garcia back to U.S. soil. Abrego Garcia worked as a construction worker in Maryland before his deportation in March, living with his wife and three children. He was granted withholding of removal in 2019, providing him temporary protections from deportation and work authorization. The deportation protection is a crux within the lawsuit challenging his removal from the U.S., which became a flashpoint for President Donald Trump's sweeping anti-immigration agenda. The Trump administration did not charge Abrego Garcia with a crime when he was deported, arguing in the proceeding weeks his removal was justified because he was allegedly a member of the MS-13 gang. His attorneys have denied associations with the gang. Here's How Many Times The White House Insisted Abrego Garcia Wouldn't Be Brought Back To The U.S. (Forbes)
Arab News
19 hours ago
- Arab News
Two sentenced in Texas for role in deaths of 53 migrants
Felipe Orduna-Torres, 30, headed a network that brought adults and children from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico into the USDistrict Judge Orlando Garcia of the Western District of Texas sentenced Orduna-Torres to life in prisonHOUSTON: The leader of a human smuggling ring convicted of involvement in the deaths of 53 migrants in a sweltering truck in Texas in 2022 was sentenced to life in prison on Orduna-Torres, 30, headed a network that brought adults and children from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico into the United States between December 2021 and June 2022, according to was convicted in March of transporting aliens within the United States resulting in death, causing serious bodily injury, and placing lives in Judge Orlando Garcia of the Western District of Texas sentenced Orduna-Torres to life in prison on Friday and a $250,000 fine, the Justice Department said in a convicted member of the smuggling ring, Armando Gonzales-Ortega, 55, was sentenced to 83 years in prison for his involvement in the deaths of the 53 migrants.'These criminals will spend the rest of their lives in prison because of their cruel choice to profit off of human suffering,' Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. 'Today's sentences are a powerful message to human smugglers everywhere: we will not rest until you are behind bars.'Five other defendants have pleaded guilty to their roles in the fatal smuggling operation and are to be sentenced later this alleged member of the smuggling ring, Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, 48, was extradited to the United States from Guatemala and is scheduled to go on trial in to the US authorities, the smugglers charged $12,000 to $15,000 per person to bring the migrants, who mostly hailed from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, into the United least 64 migrants including eight children and a pregnant woman were loaded into a 53-foot (16-meter) tractor-trailer on or around June 27, 2022 to be moved across the US-Mexico trailer's air conditioning was not working properly and the temperature inside the truck soared as it drove north to San people were dead when the trailer reached San Antonio and five more died later in hospital. Six children and the pregnant woman were among the dead.
