Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said a cluster of unusual and rapid court actions in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case has fueled speculation that a plea deal may be back on the table for the alleged human smuggler.
While Pappert stressed the possibility of a plea deal in Abrego Garcia’s case remains uncertain, he pointed to a sealed order issued by U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw on December 3, followed the very next day by the unexpected cancellation of an evidentiary hearing that had been scheduled for December 5.
Pappert said this timing is significant because the hearing was central to Abrego Garcia’s claim of vindictive prosecution, noting how the judge had previously appeared somewhat receptive to that claim.
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia could be packing his bags in the jailhouse right now and preparing to walk free,” Pappert said on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Pappert argued that if the hearing had proceeded as scheduled, Abrego Garcia might have had a chance of advancing his vindictive-prosecution argument, potentially shifting the trajectory of the case.
“I think we are going to have to get some clarification from the court by Friday of this week, surely, because if this is not some sort of plea deal negotiation, then Kilmar Abrego Garcia will want to have his evidentiary hearing where he will seek to prove vindictive prosecution before January, when of course the trial is scheduled to start,” Pappert said.
He noted, however, that both sides face strong incentives to consider a deal, considering how the defense may want to avoid a high-profile trial involving additional allegations prosecutors intend to introduce, while prosecutors may wish to avoid the risk that the judge or the immigration court disrupts their case.
“I think that there is a lot of motivation from the defense attorneys to get this out of the way…I also think there is a lot of motivation from the prosecutors though, because they’re looking at this vindictive prosecution hearing, they’re looking at Judge Paula Xinis out in Maryland who wants to free Abrego Garcia and says any day now she’s going to release an order that will likely demand he be released for immigration custody,” Pappert explained.
“I think both sides now finally have an incentive, potentially, to come to a deal,” he added.
Noting how the court activity could ultimately prove to be mundane, Pappert emphasized that the combination of sealed filings, sudden cancellations, and the looming January trial in Abrego Garcia’s make the timing notable.
“Perhaps we were jumping the gun, those who were suspecting that perhaps a plea deal is underway, and this could be something mundane. But the fact, again, that they canceled this evidentiary hearing…It tells us that something is finally going in this case,” he said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
