Man pleads guilty to role in smuggling Indian migrants from Canada into U.S.

The U.S. Department of Justice logo is seen on a podium before a press conference at the Justice Department in Washington, on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Julia Demaree Nikhinson

American officials say a man from India has pleaded guilty to his role in smuggling Indian migrants into the United States from Canada.

The U.S. Justice Department says in a news release that Shivam Lnu was charged earlier this year with smuggling a dozen people across the border.

It says that according to court documents, Lnu directed operations beginning from at least October 2024 to June 2025 to smuggle people into New York state.

The Justice Department says his role was to co-ordinate drivers to pick up migrants and take them to stash houses around northern New York and to hotels in Plattsburgh, about 100 kilometres south of Montreal.

It says that in January 2025, U.S. Border Patrol found a total of 12 migrants in two vehicles that tried to flee from agents.

Justice officials say the 22-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling and three counts of alien smuggling for financial gain, and faces up to 15 years in prison.

He is set to be sentenced Sept. 4.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2026.