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(NEW YORK) — Federal prosecutors are urging a judge to sentence disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos to seven years and three months in prison, calling his conduct a “brazen web of deceit” that defrauded donors, misled voters, and fueled his political rise through lies, theft, and identity fraud.

The government outlined the extent of Santos’s fraudulent activity across the 2020 and 2022 election cycles in a detailed sentencing memo filed on Friday.

Prosecutors allege Santos, 35, with the help of former Campaign Treasurer Nancy Marks, falsified Federal Election Commission filings, fabricating donor contributions and inflating fundraising totals to meet the $250,000 threshold required to join the National Republican Congressional Committee’s (NRCC) coveted “Young Guns” program. Marks pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing in June.

When informed he hadn’t reached the NRCC benchmark, Santos texted an associate, “We are going to do this a little differently. I got it.”

That “different” approach included submitting fake donations attributed to family members, fictitious individuals and even identities stolen from elderly supporters, according to the filing.

In tandem, Santos was running a fraudulent political consulting firm, Redstone Strategies LLC, falsely presenting it as a registered Super PAC or 501(c)(4) nonprofit. It was neither, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors say Santos used Redstone to launder donor money, keep commissions and fund personal expenses. In one scheme, he used an elderly woman’s credit card — originally provided for a one-time donation — to charge $12,000 through Redstone’s merchant account, netting himself $11,580 after fees. He wired the money directly into his personal bank account.

When questioned by his business partner, Santos lied, claiming the woman — who suffers from a brain injury — was a consulting client, according to the filing. Between February and August 2022, prosecutors say Santos used her credit card repeatedly, attributing donations to her, her daughter, or fictitious names.

Another victim, referred to as “Individual 2” in the filing, had their credit card charged at least five times in March 2022, totaling more than $30,000 in fake campaign contributions, including some attributed to Santos’s uncle and to people who didn’t exist. These donations were strategically routed to other campaigns that were clients of Redstone, ensuring Santos earned a financial kickback while boosting his political visibility.

In July 2020, he used another victim’s credit card to contribute $28,400 to his own campaign, some under the name of a personal friend who neither donated nor gave consent, according to the filing.

In April 2022, prosecutors say Santos falsely reported a $500,000 personal loan to his campaign, enabling him to boast an $800,000 Q1 fundraising haul. He approved a press release promoting the lie and pitched the narrative in conversations with Republican leaders, including a sitting congresswoman. According to the prosecution, the loan never existed.

That lie, combined with his doctored FEC filings and a fabricated resume claiming degrees from NYU and jobs at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, helped Santos secure Young Guns status from the NRCC in June 2022. The designation brought significant support: $103,000 in advertising, $33,000 in polling, and direct contributions from joint fundraising efforts.

However, by fall 2022, campaign staffers discovered the truth. When confronted about the nonexistent loan, Santos admitted it wasn’t real and scrambled to fill the gap by soliciting a $450,000 loan from a donor referred to as “Individual 1” in the filing. Santos wired $400,000 of it to his campaign, never reported it to the FEC, and never repaid the donor. He covered the remaining $100,000 by misappropriating more funds from the same donor via Redstone.

Santos was expelled from Congress in December 2023 and has pleaded guilty wire fraud and aggravated identity fraud.

Defense attorneys said in their own memo Santos deserves no more than two years in prison, arguing he “accepted full responsibility for his actions.”

“This plea is not just an admission of guilt,” Santos told reporters in August. “It’s an acknowledgment that I need to be held accountable like any other American that breaks the law.”

The former congressman’s sentencing is on April 30.

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(NEW YORK) — Significant severe weather and life-threatening flash flooding continue to impact much of the mid-South up through the Ohio River Valley.

Saturday will be the final day of this multi-day high impact flood event that has wreaked havoc across portions of the Lower and Mid-Mississippi River Valley, which remains under a high risk for flooding.

With the potential of seeing another 3 to 6 inches of rain Saturday into Sunday (and locally more in some places), catastrophic flooding is likely to occur, if not already ongoing, for the places under the high risk.

Even though the threat for severe storms will gradually lessen over the weekend as this stationary front slowly pushes east, more unsettled weather will continue to erupt over the areas already hit hard by tornados and life-threatening flooding.

On Saturday, the threat for severe weather extends from eastern Texas up through Kentucky, with parts of the lower and Mid-Mississippi River Valley under the greatest threat.

Millions are under an enhanced risk (level 3 of 5), where damaging winds, large hail and several tornadoes are possible, some which could be strong. Places like Memphis, Tennessee; Shreveport, Louisiana; Lafayette, Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi, all face the greatest risk of seeing the most intense storms that could generate strong tornadoes, very large hail and powerful winds.

Both the threat for severe weather and excessive rainfall will ease a bit on Sunday as this system begins to slide eastward. However, parts of the Tennessee and Ohio River Valley could see another 3 to 6 inches before this frontal boundary completely moves out of the region by Monday.

Parts of the Southeast are under a slight risk (level 2 of 5) for severe weather, where storms could generate damaging winds, hail and isolated tornadoes.

With that, thunderstorms generating heavy rainfall (with rates potentially reaching 2 to 3 inches per hour) could cause flash flooding in prone areas. A good portion of Georgia and Alabama, as well as parts of the Florida Panhandle, southern Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana are under a slight risk for flooding.

Following a third night of destructive storms, portions of the mid-Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys are not out of the woods yet. A stagnant frontal boundary stretching over the region will bring additional rounds of torrential rain and strong storms again on Saturday.

More than a dozen tornadoes were reported yesterday across Texas, Arkansas and Missouri.

Flood alerts stretching from Texas up through Pennsylvania remain in effect. Overnight, flash flood emergencies were issued for Cape Girardeau County and Van Buran in Missouri. Emergency management reported water rescues.

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(NEW YORK) — The last time Stephen J. Hubbard was seen in public, he was being led handcuffed into a Moscow courtroom.

The 73-year-old American has spent roughly three years in Russian captivity. In early 2022, he was swept up by the Kremlin’s troops as they occupied parts of Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion. He is believed to be the only American Russia has taken from Ukraine and put on trial.

Russia has convicted Hubbard as a mercenary fighting for Ukraine. But his family, the U.S. government and Ukrainian officials say the reality is that the elderly American was an innocent teacher.

“We didn’t even know if he was dead or alive until July,” Hubbard’s sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, told ABC News. “It’s dire. His health is dire. It’s been reported he’s passing blood. They need to bring him home.”

Hubbard is one of a string of Americans seized by Russia on dubious charges in recent years, as the Kremlin has seized hostages to use as political bargaining chips, among them WNBA star Brittney Griner and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. The State Department has designated Hubbard as “wrongfully detained” meaning the U.S. government can negotiate for his release.

In September, Russian state media reported Hubbard pleaded guilty to the mercenary charges. His sister said the allegations were absurd and that he had been forced into the guilty plea after years of torture and mistreatment.

“It’s just a lie,” Patricia said. “Steve was 70 years old, there’s no way he was a mercenary. Steve was an English teacher. It’s an excuse to kidnap Americans. Steve is nothing but a pawn for Russia.”

The State Department called on Russia to release Hubbard.

“He never should have been taken captive,” the State Department said in a statement. “The United States will continue to work for the release of Mr. Hubbard and all other Americans unjustly detained in Russia.”

Born in Big Rapids, Michigan, Hubbard briefly joined the Air Force after high school but left after three years. In the 1980s, he moved to Japan with his second wife, where he spent the next 25 years working as an English teacher, according to his sister. After the couple divorced, he and his son from that marriage moved to Cyprus, where he met a Ukrainian woman.

In 2014, he and the woman moved to Ukraine, settling in Izyum, a small, sleepy city in the country’s east. Hubbard, who doesn’t speak Russian or Ukrainian, continued to teach English online to support himself, his sister said.

Hubbard was in Izyum when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russian troops quickly overran the city and conducted one of the most brutal occupations of the war over the seven months that followed.

After Ukrainian forces liberated Izyum in September 2022, they discovered evidence of Russian atrocities — including hundreds of mass graves in a nearby forest. Soldiers had dumped bodies, with many showing signs of torture.

Hubbard was among the hundreds of civilians detained in Izyum and the surrounding villages during the Russian occupation. Ukrainian police investigating war crimes said they have been able to establish that a group of Russian soldiers seized Hubbard from his home in April 2022.

He was brought to a torture chamber in the nearby village of Balaklia, where many of those detained passed through, prosecutors in the Kharkiv region told ABC News.

A month later, Russian television aired a report featuring Hubbard from a prison in occupied Ukraine. Another video published by Mash, a channel with links to Russia’s security services, shows a zip-tied Hubbard being beaten in the back of a Russian APC.

Ukrainian prisoners of war have said they crossed paths with Hubbard at different times during his imprisonment. Ihor Shyshko told ABC News he shared a cell with Hubbard for about a month in 2023 at a prison in Pakino, around 150 miles from Moscow.

“The day began and ended with tortures,” Shyshko said.

In addition to subjecting them to electric shocks for interrogations, guards would force prisoners to stand in uncomfortable positions and then hit them in the genitals or knock them to the ground, according to Shyshko.

The prisons were freezing, Shyshko said, and prisoners were kept on a starvation diet, fed mostly water with a few spoons of buckwheat in it. Many Ukrainian prisoners of war return from captivity looking skeletal and suffering serious health problems.

Shyshko was released in a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine last year. Photos show him gaunt and wasted after his release, with bruises and rashes from scabies on his legs. He still wears hearing aids on both ears because of damage from beatings, he said.

The conditions were even harder for an elderly man like Hubbard, whom inmates believed was subjected to harsher treatment because he was American, Shyshko said. He recalled other inmates having to carry Hubbard to a medical center because he was unable to walk properly.

“He had very damaged knees, there was practically no skin, everything was rotten,” he said. “He is an old man. And he could not understand why this was happening to him.”

Patricia said she learned which prison her brother had been in after the wife of a Ukrainian soldier tracked her down. After Shyshko’s release, he also made contact with U.S. government representatives in an effort to help Hubbard.

Ukrainian police and prosecutors have opened a war crimes case over Hubbard’s abduction. After months interviewing witnesses and checking with government organizations, they said they had no evidence he had any involvement with Ukraine’s military or any fighting. Ukrainian officials and soldiers also noted Hubbard’s health and age likely meant he would not have been chosen to fight.

“He had nothing to do with the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He did not participate in the territorial defense. He is simply a civilian teacher,” Oleksandr Kobyliev, who heads the war crimes department of the Kharkiv regional police, told ABC News.

Patricia hopes her brother can be released in a prisoner exchange similar to those that have freed other U.S. citizens.

Last July, Russia released Americans, including Gershkovich, in the largest exchange since the end of the Cold War after reaching an agreement with the Biden administration. In February, American teacher Marc Fogel was freed in exchange for a Russian cyber criminal, in a swap agreed with the Trump administration.

Patricia said she is selling her house in order to buy another place with room for Hubbard to stay and recover when he is eventually freed. She pleaded for President Donald Trump to help save her brother.

“You went and got another schoolteacher, go get my brother,” she said. “Before it’s too late.”

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(BROADVIEW, Ill.) — A man who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this month was temporarily released from an Illinois facility on Friday, after community advocates and officials appealed for his freedom so he can resume the kidney donation process in hopes of saving his brother’s life.

José Gregorio González, who was detained by ICE on March 3, was reunited with his brother José Alfredo Pacheco, who is in end-state kidney failure.

The brothers spoke out during a press conference in Chicago on Friday morning, where they were joined by their legal team, local officials and community advocates from the The Resurrection Project — the group that advocated for González’s release.

“I want to inform you that I’m extremely happy for the liberation of my brother. We fought for one month and one day to reach this goal,” Pacheco said in Spanish, addressing a group of supporters. “Thank you to the team of my lawyer Peter, thank you to the press that has helped get to this goal. I’m extremely thankful. Thank you very much.”

Visibly emotional and wearing a mask, Pacheco told reporters that he had a dialysis appointment earlier in the morning and he wouldn’t wish this illness on anybody.

Asked about the first thing he and his brother will do together, Pacheco said that they are going to call their mother so she can see them together.

According to The Resurrection Project, González was released from ICE custody three hours ahead of schedule on Friday morning. He was being held in the Clay County Jail in Brazil, Indiana, ICE records showed, and transferred to Broadview, Illinois, for release.

González answered one question during the press conference, speaking in Spanish.

“He said that he’s very happy for all the help the community has given him, for all the support that he thought was unbelievable, and to see his brother, he thinks it was something just very unbelievable,” a translator said. “He never would have imagined that that was possible.”

According to his attorney Peter Meinecke, González has been granted supervised release for one year.

“ICE has granted José a stay of removal for one year and released him under an order of supervision,” Meinecke said at Friday’s press conference. “This means ICE has decided José’s release is warranted due to urgent humanitarian factors. José will now be able to return home where he can resume the process of donating his kidney and saving his brother’s life.”

He noted that González will have to check in with ICE periodically during this time.

“This is part of an alternative to detention program for individuals whose continued detention is not in the public interest,” Meinecke said on Friday. “While José is released on an order supervision, he will be eligible to apply for a work permit at the end of one year, ICE could detain him and could ultimately seek to remove him to Venezuela.”

An ICE spokesperson provided a statement Friday evening in response to an ABC News request for comment evening stating: “Jose Gregorio Gonzalez, 43, is a citizen of Venezuela who has been ordered removed to his home country by an immigration judge. Gonzalez was arrested and placed in ICE custody March 3 without incident. After providing proper documentation ICE granted Gonzalez a temporary stay on humanitarian grounds.”

Meinecke, an attorney with The Resurrection Project, told ABC News in an interview on Wednesday that Pacheco reached out to the group earlier this month seeking support after González was detained.

Speaking in Spanish, Pacheco addressed a crowd of supporters during a press conference on Monday and called for his brother’s release.

“My health is at serious risk — I have 100% kidney failure and depend on dialysis three times a week,” he said, according to a translation provided by The Resurrection Project.

“It’s extremely difficult — sometimes, I can barely get out of bed. I have three children, 9-year-old twins and a 17-year-old back home, and I want to live to see them grow up. My brother used to take me to my appointments, but now I’m alone. My brother is a good man, not a criminal in Venezuela or here — he came only with the hope of donating his kidney to me. I thought I was alone, but seeing the support of this community has moved me deeply.”

Meinecke said that he had been in touch with González’s ICE officer over the past few weeks and submitted a request for release on temporary humanitarian parole on March 25.

“He needs to show that his release is either in the public interest or is necessary for like, urgent humanitarian factors. And in his case, we argue both,” Meinecke said. “You know, obviously, the medical conditions kind of speak to both. They’re both urgent humanitarian factors by now, but organ donation is in the public interest as well.”

Meinecke explained that Pacheco was admitted into the U.S. from Venezuela in 2023 and was permitted to apply for asylum, so he has a work permit while his asylum application is pending. His wife and three children remain in Venezuela. But soon after he arrived in the U.S., he suffered from stomach pain, according to Meinecke.

“[Alfredo] went to the hospital with severe abdominal pain, which is when he was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure,” Tovia Siegel, director of organizing and leadership at the Resurrection Project, told ABC News on Wednesday. “At the time, he was told he had 2% functioning of his kidneys and would need dialysis consistently, multiple times a week to survive, and really, his best chance to live a full, healthy life would be a kidney transplant.”

Since his diagnosis in 2023, Pacheco’s condition has deteriorated, Siegel said.

“[Alfredo] currently receives [dialysis] three times a week, from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., and his brother José came here to help care for him, and with the intention of being able to donate his kidney and save Alfredo’s life,” Siegel said. “And so for the last year, José has essentially been a full-time caretaker for Alfredo, helping with cooking, cleaning, etc, and with the intent to donate his kidney.”

But unlike Pacheco, when González arrived to the U.S. from Venezuela “primarily to assist” his brother, he failed to pass the credible fear screening, which did not allow him to apply for asylum like Pacheco had done, according to Meinecke, so he was detained by ICE for several months and then he was granted temporary supervised release but still faced a pending removal order. During his time on supervised release, González routinely checked in with his ICE officer, provided his address and wore an ankle monitor, Meinecke said.

Siegel said that González was detained while the brothers were leaving their home to go to Pacheco’s kidney dialysis appointment.

“It was shocking and devastating,” she said. “They had been living life together, and an incredibly difficult life where one of the brothers was undergoing incredible medical distress and suffering.”

“They were taking care of one another and surviving for a year together,” she added. “And during that time, clearly, you know, caring deeply for one another, loving each other as family members do. José [Gregorio] had no contact with police, the criminal legal system, and then one morning, with, you know, completely unexpected, ICE came to their home.”

González is likely going to donate for a swap but is hoping he’s a match, according to Siegel.

Friday’s release came after ICE denied on Monday a stay of removal request submitted by his attorneys and then the case was elevated to an ICE Chicago Field Supervisor, according to The Resurrection Project.

“This is literally a matter of life and death,” said Erendira Rendón, vice president of immigrant justice at The Resurrection Project. “ICE has the discretionary authority to release Mr. González on humanitarian grounds. Every day he remains detained is another day his brother’s life hangs in the balance.”

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(LOS ANGELES) — An investigation is underway after authorities found a body matching the description of a missing 13-year-old boy, Los Angeles police said.

Oscar Omar Hernandez, of the San Fernando Valley, was reported missing by his family on Sunday after he “failed to return home from visiting an acquaintance in Lancaster,” LAPD Capt. Scot Williams said in a statement.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division assumed the lead Tuesday in the investigation, which subsequently led them to an “area of interest” in the city of Oxnard, west of Los Angeles, Williams said.

“In collaboration with our partners at the FBI, a coordinated foot search of that area took place,” Williams said. “During the search, a body matching the description of the missing teen was discovered.”

The identity of the deceased has not been officially confirmed, and the cause of death remains undetermined, police said.

Detectives are pursuing leads to “determine the cause of death and to identify any individuals who may be involved or possess information relevant to this investigation,” Williams said.

LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told reporters at the scene in Oxnard on Wednesday that they were working to establish a timeline in the case.

“The family was aware of his destination, and I’m going to kind of leave it at that as part of the investigation,” he said.

Police would not say what led them to Oxnard.

“All we can say is that our investigation led us to this point here … in the unincorporated area of Ventura County,” Hamilton said.

Family and friends of Oscar paid tribute to the teen on Thursday at the site where the body was found on the side of a road in Oxnard.

“He didn’t need to be treated like an animal. That was my son,” his mother, Gladys Bautista, cried out in Spanish, ABC News’ Los Angeles station KABC reported.

Loved ones also gathered outside his home in the North Hollywood area, where friends remembered him as the “nicest person” who was “always kindhearted” and a great dancer.

Police did not have an update on the investigation on Friday.

“Anyone that thinks they’re going to get away with any kind of foul play or nefarious activity or criminal activity, they’re going to learn that the Los Angeles Police Department will stop at nothing to bring people to justice,” Hamilton said at the scene Wednesday.

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(FRISCO, Texas) — A 17-year-old student charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of another student at a track meet allegedly confessed to the killing and officers say he told them he was protecting himself, according to the arrest report.

The incident occurred Wednesday morning at a Frisco Independent School District stadium during a track and field championship involving multiple schools in the district.

Austin Metcalf, 17, an 11th grader at Frisco Memorial High School, died after police said another student stabbed him during an altercation in the bleachers at the meet.

The suspect in the deadly stabbing — Karmelo Anthony, a student at Frisco Centennial High School — has been charged with first-degree murder, police said.

One officer who responded to the scene said Anthony told him unprompted, without being asked any questions about the incident, “I was protecting myself,” according to the arrest report.

When the officer advised another responding officer that he had “the alleged suspect,” Anthony reportedly responded, “I’m not alleged, I did it,” according to the arrest report.

As he was walking toward the squad car, Anthony “was emotional,” reportedly saying unprompted, “He put his hands on me, I told him not to,” according to the arrest report. Once in the back seat, he also reportedly asked if Metcalf was “going to be OK,” according to the report.

Anthony “made another spontaneous statement” and reportedly asked an officer if what happened “could be considered self-defense,” according to the arrest report. Another officer reported that the suspect was “crying hysterically” while being walked away from the stadium, the report said.

Anthony is being held in the Collin County jail on $1 million bond, court records show. When reached for comment on Friday, his attorney told ABC News he had been on the case for only a few hours and needed to catch up.

Anthony’s father told ABC News on Thursday that they do not have a statement to make at this time.

The stabbing occurred under the Memorial High School tent in the stadium bleachers at approximately 10 a.m. on Wednesday, according to the arrest report.

Responding officers say they spoke to multiple witnesses, including one who reported that the altercation began after Metcalf told Anthony to move out from under their team’s tent, according to the arrest report.

The witness reported that Anthony allegedly reached inside his bag and said, “Touch me and see what happens,” according to the arrest report.

According to a witness, Metcalf grabbed Anthony to move him, and Anthony allegedly pulled out what the witness described as a black knife and “stabbed Austin once in the chest and then ran away,” the arrest report stated.

An officer recovered a bloody knife in the bleachers, according to the report.

Metcalf was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:53 a.m. on Wednesday, according to the arrest report.

His twin brother, Hunter Metcalf, was also at the meet and spoke to officers at the scene. He said that after his brother told Anthony he had to leave the tent because he didn’t go to Memorial, the two “went back and forth and then Austin stood up and pushed the male to get him out of the tent,” according to the arrest report.

“I tried to whip around as fast as I could, but I didn’t see the stab,” Hunter Metcalf told Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA. “It was really senseless. I don’t know why a person would do that to someone, just over that little argument.”

The track meet has been postponed to Monday and will be held at a new location, WFAA reported. Frisco ISD will share more details on updated security measures with families, according to the station.

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in Maryland has granted a preliminary injunction and ordered the government to facilitate the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador in error, by Monday.

“I am going to grant the motion for preliminary injunction I’ve reviewed, and I’ll read this word for word, so that there is no dispute that the oral order is the written order,” said U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis at Firday’s hearing, making a reference to the Alien Enemies Act court case in which the government failed to carry out another judge’s oral order.

“The two defendants are hereby ordered to facilitate the return of plaintiff Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to the United States by no later than 11:59 p.m. on Monday, April 7, 2025,” Judge Xinis said.

Abrego Garcia was sent to El Salvador as part of what the Trump administration described as a $6 million deal with Salvadoran authorities in which they would house deported migrants in exchange for payment. At Friday’s hearing, however, the Justice Department attorney denied there was such a contract.

“The way I see the record, though, is that there is an agreement between your clients and El Salvador where your clients are [paying] upward of $6 million to house individuals,” Judge Xinis said. “There’s nothing to suggest that they’re still not in the custody of DHS and immigration.”

Erez Reuveni, Acting Deputy Director for the Office of Immigration Litigation for DOJ, replied, “There’s nothing in the record that there is a contract.”

When Judge Xinis pushed back and said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem have spoken about an agreement between the two countries, Reuveni said he could not speak for them.

“I can’t speak to where they got their information from,” Reuvani said. “But neither of them said there is a contact.”

“They may not have used the word contract, but agreement sounds a lot like contract where we paid $6 million,” Judge Xinis replied. “I think I can draw a logicial inference.”

Abrego Garcia, despite having protected legal status, was sent to the notorious CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador following what the government said was an “administrative error.”

“The facts are conceded,” Reuvani said during Friday’s hearing. “Mr. Abrego Garcia should not have been removed.”

Although the government has acknowledged the error, it said in an earlier court filing that because Abrego Garcia was no longer in U.S. custody, the court cannot order him to be returned to the U.S., nor can the court order El Salvador to return him.

Last month, Abrego Garcia, who has a U.S. citizen wife and 5-year-old child, was stopped by ICE officers who “informed him that his immigration status had changed,” according to his attorneys. He was detained and then transferred to a detention center in Texas, after which he was sent to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, along with more than 200 alleged Venezuelan gang members, on March 15.

Abrego Garcia entered the United States in 2011 when he was 16 to escape gang violence in El Salvador, according to his lawyers. His attorneys say that in 2019, a confidential informant “had advised that Abrego Garcia was an active member” of the gang MS-13. Abrego Garcia later filed an I-589 application for asylum, and although he was found removable, an immigration judge “granted him withholding of removal to El Salvador,” the attorneys said.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers say that he “is not a member of or has no affiliation with Tren de Aragua, MS-13, or any other criminal or street gang” and said that the U.S. government “has never produced an iota of evidence to support this unfounded accusation.”

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt — while acknowledging the government’s error in sending him to El Salvador — called Abrego Garcia a leader of MS-13.

“The administration maintains the position that this individual who was deported to El Salvador and will not be returning to our country was a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang,” Leavitt said.

Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, the attorney representing Abrego Garcia, acknowledged at Friday’s hearing that his client could have been removed to another county — just not El Salvador.

“He certainly was removable to many countries on Earth — El Salvador is simply not one of them,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said.

“There was no removal order as to El Salvador,” he added. “This was essentially the equivalent of a forcible expulsion.”

When asked by Judge Xinis under what authority law enforcement officers seized Abrego Garcia, Reuveni said he was frustrated that he did not have those answers.

“Your honor, my answer to a lot of these questions is going to be frustrating and I’m also frustrated that I have no answers for you on a lot of these questions,” Reuvani said.

Following the hearing, Abrego Garcia’s wife said she will continue to fight for her husband.

“I want to say thank you to everyone that has helped us, that has supported us in fighting this, and we will continue fighting for Kilmar, for my husband,” said Jennifer Varquez Sura.

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(SENECA, Kan.) — A man has been arrested in the murder of a Catholic priest, who was shot Thursday outside the residence at his church in the small town of Seneca, Kansas.

Gary Hermesch, 66, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was booked on suspicion of first-degree murder.

A 911 call was made at around 3 p.m. on Thursday to report shots fired at the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Deputies arrived on the scene to find Father Arul Carasala, 57, outside the church residence, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the KBI.

Carasala twas transported to the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital, but died due to his injuries, according to the KBI.

Kansas Highway Patrol troopers responded and helped secure the scene. Shortly after, deputies from the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office and officers from the Seneca Police Department took Hermesch into custody, the KBI said.

He was booked into the Nemaha County Jail but has not yet been formally charged, authorities said.

Kansas City Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann said he was “heartbroken” by the news of Carasala’s death.

“This senseless act of violence has left us grieving the loss of a beloved priest, leader, and friend. Fr. Carasala was a devoted and zealous pastor who faithfully served our Archdiocese for over twenty years, including as dean of the Nemaha-Marshall region,” Naumann said in a statement on Facebook.

“We are in shock and disbelief. Please allow our parish community to process. We will release official information as it becomes available,” Saints Peter and Paul Parish said in a statement on Facebook.

Carasala was ordained in March 1994 in his home Diocese of Cuddapah, India, according to the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas.

“He ministered at Sts. Peter and Paul for nearly 14 years and also served as dean of the Nemaha-Marshall deanery. His deep faith, pastoral care, and generous spirit touched the lives of so many,” the archdiocese said in a statement on Facebook.

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(NEW YORK) — ​​​​A four-day, once-in-a-generation weather event is pounding the middle of the U.S. with destructive tornadoes and life-threatening flooding.

Friday marks day three of the devastating storm. Here’s what you need to know:

8 deaths reported in 4 states

At least eight people have died across four states.

In Franklin County, Kentucky, a boy died after he got caught in floodwaters on Friday while walking to the school bus stop, officials said.

A second death — a local fire chief — was confirmed in Missouri. Garry Moore, 68, who was the chief of the Whitewater Fire Protection District, died in the line of duty on Wednesday, while helping a stranded motorist, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Another death was confirmed in Hendricks County, Indiana, just outside of Indianapolis. A 27-year-old man was driving on Wednesday when he hit downed power lines in the road, and then he got out of his car “and came into contact with the live power lines,” the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office said.

Another five weather-related fatalities were confirmed in Tennessee, according to state officials.

Gov. Bill Lee announced the fifth death in the state during a news conference Thursday evening, where he spoke of the “immense devastation” wrought by a powerful tornado that tore through the small city of Selmer, in the southwestern part of the state, between Memphis and Nashville.

Lee had declared a state of emergency in Tennessee, as did Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

“We are facing one of the most serious weather events we’ve had forecast,” Beshear warned on social media. “Please stay alert, take all precautions, and be prepared.”

Tornado threat

Since the outbreak began Wednesday, there have been at least 42 reported tornadoes from Arkansas to Ohio. This includes an EF-3 tornado in Selmer, Tennessee, with winds of 160 mph, and an EF-3 tornado in Lake City, Arkansas, with winds of 150 mph.

Matt Ziegler documented the moment the tornado hit Lake City.

“I’ve always heard that they sound like a train on a track, but to be honest with you, it was eerily quiet,” he told ABC News. “If you weren’t looking, you wouldn’t know that there was a major tornado just a field over from us.”

On Friday, there’s another moderate risk for severe weather — including damaging tornadoes — from northeast Texas to Little Rock, Arkansas, to southern Missouri.

On Saturday, the severe threat is labeled “enhanced,” with the potential for strong tornadoes from Louisiana to Tennessee.

“We are facing one of the most serious weather events we’ve had forecast,” Beshear warned on social media. “Please stay alert, take all precautions, and be prepared.”

Flash flooding threat

Since Wednesday, over 6 inches of rain has inundated Tennessee and over 4 inches of rain has fallen in Arkansas and Kentucky — and the threat isn’t over.

A massive flood watch on Friday stretches from Texarkana, Texas, to Little Rock to Memphis to Nashville to Louisville, Kentucky, to Indianapolis to Columbus, Ohio, to Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Arkansas is in the bull’s-eye on Friday, with much of the state bracing for up to 10 inches of rain.

Another high risk for flash flooding is in effect Saturday from Arkansas to Kentucky.

By the time the storm ends, rain totals could be well over 15 inches. Some cities may see record-high four-day rain totals.

Rivers, creeks and other waterways could also advance into major flood stage from Arkansas to Kentucky.

The system will finally move east Sunday afternoon, bringing rain to the Southeast on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

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(LOS ANGELES) — A man is at large after he allegedly gunned down his estranged girlfriend and her daughter in their car, authorities said.

Donte Lamont Brown, 41, of Compton, is considered armed and dangerous, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department warned.

La’von Hall and her daughter, Ma’Laysia Martin, were stopped at a traffic light in Compton around 7 p.m. on Tuesday when Brown allegedly drove up alongside their car and shot them, according to the sheriff’s department.

After Hall was shot, she got out of the driver’s seat and fell to the ground, authorities said. Her car kept moving until it struck a pole.

Responders found Hall lying on the ground and Martin in the passenger seat, the sheriff’s department said. The mother and daughter both died at the scene, authorities said.

“Detectives have exhausted all leads” in their search for Brown and are asking for the public’s help to find him, the sheriff’s department said.

Anyone with information is urged to call the sheriff’s department at 323-890-5500 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

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