Prosecutors said that Mr Ábrego García and an unnamed co-conspirator would pick up migrants in Houston and transport them to other places in the US and that they "knowingly and unlawfully transported thousands", according to the indictment. The charges, which date back to 2016, allege he transported undocumented individuals between Texas and his home in Maryland and other states more than 100 times. At one point in December 2022, Mr Ábrego García was briefly detained by a Tennessee highway patrol officer. However, no criminal charges were lodged against him at the time. His lawyers dispute the government's case, describing it as "preposterous" and an "abuse of power". "There's no way a jury is going to see the evidence and agree that this sheet metal worker is the leader of an international MS-13 smuggling conspiracy," said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Mr Ábrego García's lawyers.