Disgraced Maryland police officer tied to 2019 Abrego Garcia gang report
A now-fired Maryland police officer authored the 2019 gang report that the government referenced when it mistakenly sent a Maryland father to a notorious prison in El Salvador, documents obtained by Paste BN show.
A copy of the pivotal gang report, released by Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 16 shields the name of the Prince George’s County, Maryland, police officer. But another, unredacted copy provided by attorneys for the imprisoned man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, show it was written by Ivan Mendez.
Just days after the March 2019 encounter at a Home Depot in Hyattsville where Abrego Garcia was flagged as a potential MS-13 gang member, Mendez was suspended from the force.
Court records show he was then indicted in June 2020 for misconduct in office. Court records allege he shared “sensitive and confidential information about an ongoing police investigation with a commercial sex worker.”
“My Office has a zero-tolerance policy for corruption by public officials who unlawfully violate the public trust,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said in announcing the indictment.
In 2021, Mendez' name appeared on the "Do not call" list Braveboy released. Those are police deemed unreliable because of their disciplinary records, crimes or other alleged misconduct. If those officers are called to testify, prosecutors disclose the officer's history to the defense.
Court records show Mendez ultimately pled guilty to the misconduct charge in 2022 and received one year of probation. Mendez did not return messages seeking comment.
On April 17, the Prince George’s Police Department released a brief statement confirming it no longer employs Mendez.
“The department proposed his termination, he accepted the discipline and was terminated from the agency in December 2022,” Officer Brayan Perez, a department spokesman, told Paste BN.
Mendez' tie to the Abrego Garcia report was first reported April 15 by The New Republic. Paste BN independently confirmed the report with records from state and local officials.
Speaking on CNN April 16, Braveboy said the 2019 report was based partly on a confidential informant, as well as the controversial GangNet database, which has since been disbanded. Operators of the system warned at the time that it was intended for intelligence only and should not be used as the basis for arrests or charges.
Government attorneys acknowledged in court documents that he was deported by mistake but say they have no authority to free him because he is imprisoned in a foreign country.
U.S. officials contend Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 criminal gang, recently deemed a foreign terrorist organization. But their evidence relies on a confidential informant and clothing Garcia was wearing in 2019 police encounter.
Paula Xinis, the federal judge in the case, has questioned the strength of the government's evidence.
"Defendants have claimed – without any evidence – that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13," Xinis wrote in an April 6 opinion.
Earlier in April, Paste BN reported on the deportation to El Salvador of Andry José Hernandez, a gay makeup artist from Venezuela who has denied any connection to the Tren de Aragua gang. Suspicions that Hernandez was in the gang were alleged in a report on his tattoos signed by a disgraced Milwaukee cop who was fired after driving his car into a family’s home while intoxicated.