Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran national mistakenly deported from the US three months ago, pleaded not guilty Friday to federal human smuggling charges.

Abrego Garcia entered the United States in 2012 and sought asylum in 2019, after he was detained and faced deportation proceedings. Though his claim was denied, an immigration judge agreed to bar immigration officials from sending him back to El Salvador because of the potential that he might be targeted for violence by a local gang.

Kilmar Armando Abrego García, the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March by federal immigration authorities, appeared in federal court Friday to answer charges related to a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.