Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland construction operative, entered a plea of not guilty to charges of human trafficking before a Tennessee federal tribunal, his legal representatives contending that the indictment represents a specious *post hoc* rationalisation for his erroneous deportation to El Salvador in March, precipitated by a Supreme Court mandate for his repatriation amidst a climate of escalating scrutiny; Abrego Garcia's counsel impugned the veracity of government witnesses, alleging *quid pro quo* cooperation predicated on immigration leniency, charges emanating from a 2022 traffic infraction in Tennessee wherein Abrego Garcia was transporting nine passengers, instigating suspicions of illicit conveyance, albeit resulting in a mere admonition at the time, and compounded by pre-trial portrayals by U.S. attorneys depicting Abrego Garcia as a public menace and potential absconder, levelling accusations of narcotics and firearms trafficking, alongside exploitation of female subjects transported, precipitating the resignation of Ben Schrader, erstwhile chief of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.