Ontario man smuggled people from India to U.S., through Calgary, Toronto, Montreal

An Indian national from Brampton, Ont., pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court on Friday to human smuggling as part of a network that potentially moved hundreds of people from India across the Canada-U.S. border.

Simranjit (Shally) Singh, 41, pleaded guilty to six counts of alien smuggling and three counts of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling during an appearance in Albany, N.Y., before Judge Mae A. D'Agostino. 

Singh appeared in a short-sleeved orange jumpsuit with "ACCF Inmate" written on the back, which stands for Albany County Correctional Facility. He wore black-rimmed glasses, with salt and pepper stubble spread down his cheeks and chin. There was a small tattoo behind his left ear and another scrawled down his left forearm. 

None of Singh's family or friends appeared at the hearing.

Singh's plea agreement included an admission that he arranged to smuggle people into the U.S. from India by flying them to Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, before transporting them to Cornwall, Ont. Singh then moved the Indian nationals by boat across the St. Lawrence River through Akwesasne, a Haudenenesaunee community that straddles the Canada-U.S. border and sits about 120 kilometres west of Montreal.

U.S. authorities said Singh bragged he smuggled more than 1,000 people into the U.S. from Canada.

The case against Singh was based on evidence gathered through surveillance, Facebook messages and human sources related to four failed smuggling attempts across the St. Lawrence River between March 2020 and April 2022, according to court records. 

Singh acted as a broker, charging $5,000 to $35,000 per person to smuggle mainly Indian nationals into the U.S. He then paid people in Akwesasne between $2,000 to $3,000 per person to take them across the river through the community's territory.

Singh's indictment is not connected to the deaths of eight suspected migrants — including four Indian citizens — on the St. Lawrence in March. 

However, there are similarities in Singh's routes and tactics, and those used by the network behind the fatal human smuggling attempt, which also left a Romanian family of four dead.

The plea agreement included the admission that Singh, using locals, loaded Indian nationals on boats which launched from Cornwall Island in Akwesasne, across the water to the southern shore of the St. Lawrence River, where they were picked up in vehicles and taken to nearby New York state motels.

This was the same route followed by the Indian and Romanian families who died in March.

After the hearing, Singh's lawyer, Lee Kindlon, told CBC News that his client was likely exaggerating when he claimed he smuggled 1.000 people over the border. Kindlon said Singh was just a cog in a much bigger network. 

"Hopefully through sentencing, we can show that his role in this larger enterprise was actually quite small," said Kindlon, with the Albany-based Kindlon Law Firm.