Ontario [Canada], July 31 : An Indian-origin man, who has been living in Canada's Ontario, pleaded guilty in an American court in a human smuggling case in 2020 and 2021, Canada-based CTV news reported.
In June 2022, Simranjit Singh, 40, had been arrested and extradited from Canada to the US in March. He was smuggling people from India into the US.
“In pleading guilty, Singh admitted that from at least March 2020 through March 2021, he facilitated the smuggling of numerous Indian nationals from Canada into the United States, via Cornwall Island and the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation in the St. Lawrence River region, for profit,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of New York stated in a press release Friday.
Currently, Singh is facing five years in prison, but could also extend up to 15 years, a fine of up to USD 250,000, and three years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to “alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling,” according to the press release.
He will also be facing deportation from the US after his sentence is served, based on the decision of an immigration judge, reported CTV news.
Regarding the case, the US authorities said that Singh had facilitated the smuggling of several Indian nationals through the Cornwall Island and Akwesasne Mohawk Territory.
In April, a document was released which stated that the migrants, who say their entry into the US was facilitated by Singh, had told American law enforcement that he charged them between USD 5,000 and USD 35,000,
These documents detailed conversations between Singh and contacts, including one referred to as CW-1 who, on one occasion, dropped off three Indian citizens at a motel in New York and then travelled to Cornwall to meet Singh and collect USD 4,000 in pay.
CW-1 then became nervous that the motel room was in her name, according to the documents, and returned to the motel to pick up the three people. U.S. Border Patrol agents chased her car after all four left the hotel and arrested them, as per CTV news.
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