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Indian man pleads guilty in Canada-US migrant smuggling case
Shivam pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling and three counts of alien smuggling for financial gain.
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Fri, 15, May 2026
- 03:49 EDT
- 12
Representative image / Pexels
A 22-year-old Indian man, Shivam, has pleaded guilty to smuggling people from India across the United States-Canada border, the U.S. Justice Department announced May 14.
Shivam, whose last name was unknown, was indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this year after a Jan. 26 operation and subsequent investigation.
According to court documents, Shivam directed smuggling operations beginning at least in October 2024 through June 2025, coordinating the illegal transport of immigrants across the U.S.-Canada border into the Northern District of New York.
Authorities said Shivam was responsible for coordinating drivers to pick up immigrants from the border and transport them farther into the United States, specifically to stash houses around northern New York and to hotels in Plattsburgh, New York, charging a fee per transported immigrant.
Investigators said WhatsApp messages between one of the drivers and a phone number linked to Shivam revealed coordination of smuggling activity on multiple occasions in and before January 2025. The messages allegedly included “proof of life” photographs of migrants and directions to safe houses in upstate New York.
On Jan. 26, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agents attempted to stop two vehicles traveling in tandem near the U.S.-Canada border. Both vehicles accelerated to avoid agents, triggering a pursuit.
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One vehicle went off the road and became immobilized, while the other was later stopped in Mooers, New York. The vehicles contained a total of 12 immigrants who were in the country illegally.
Paying $100 for every person transported, Shivam had directed his alleged co-conspirators to smuggle 12 immigrants from India and the United Kingdom from Canada into the United States a day before the incident.
Shivam pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling and three counts of alien smuggling for financial gain.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 4 and faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 15 years. The federal district court judge will determine the final sentence.
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