A fifth suspect has pleaded guilty in a human smuggling case that resulted in the death of a family, including two young kids under three years old, in the St. Lawrence River in March 2023. Stephanie Square, 53, a dual Canadian-American citizen from the Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit alien smuggling, four counts of alien smuggling for financial gain and four counts of alien smuggling resulting in death, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday. According to court documents, Square was a U.S. leader of a human smuggling organization that regularly trafficked migrants across the U.S.-Canada border in Akwesasne, the First Nations territory on the Quebec-Ontario border that also straddles the New York state border. During the week of March 27, 2023, a Canadian smuggler contacted Square to bring a Romanian couple and their two children across the St. Lawrence River into the United States. She also recruited co-conspirators to facilitate the operation, which went ahead despite dangerous weather conditions “so that she would be paid,” the documents stated. READ MORE: According to the DOJ, Square enlisted a driver, Dakota Montour, to drive the family on March 29, 2023, to the home of Timothy Oakes, whose home on Cornwall Island was a “notorious” staging area for human smuggling. After the family arrived, the family of four was transported in Oakes’ car to the tip of Cornwall Island, where Casey Oakes was waiting for them to bring them over the river. “While in transit, the boat capsized due to severe weather. As a result, the Romanian family and [Casey] Oakes died,” the DOJ said. A few days later, police searched the water and found the bodies of the four family members. Casey Oakes’ body was also found eight months later. After pleading guilty on Thursday, Square is set to be sentenced on Nov. 25. She faces a minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum of life in prison. Her co-conspirators, Dakota Montour, 32, Kawisiiostha Celecia Sharrow, 45, both of the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian reserve, New York, Janet Terrance, 46, of Hogansburg, N.Y., and Timothy Oakes, 35, from the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian reserve, already pleaded guilty on Jan. 23, 2025, Oct. 8, 2024, March 6, 2025, and May 11, 2026, respectively. Another co-conspirator, Rahsontanohstha Delormier, 31, pleaded guilty on June 26. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva called the deaths “a preventable and tragic loss of life.” “Human smuggling organizations show a reckless disregard for the safety and well-being of those they transport, often resulting in devastating consequences,” added Acting Special Agent in Charge Anthony Patrone of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Buffalo. The DOJ said several partners assisted in the yearslong investigation, including the Canada Border Services Agency, the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Sûreté du Québec, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Cornwall Police Service, among others.
