Rajinder Pal Singh, an Indian-origin driver who also goes by the name Jaspal Gill, has been sentenced to three years in prison for Conspiracy to Transport and Harbor Certain Aliens for Profit and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering.
The 49-year-old resident of California helped over 800 Indian citizens illegally to enter the US using the Uber app.
Singh pleaded guilty in February 2023, admitting that he took in more than $500,000 as a key member of a smuggling ring bringing hundreds of Indian Nationals across the border from Canada and then to locations in the mid-west and beyond.
"Over a four-year period, Mr Singh arranged for more than 800 people to be smuggled into the US across the northern border and into Washington State. This conduct was not just a security risk for our country, it also subjected those smuggled to security and safety risks during the often weeks-long smuggling route from India to the United States. Mr Singh’s participation in this conspiracy preyed upon the Indian nationals’ hopes for a better life in the United States while saddling those smuggled with crushing debt of as much as $70,000.”Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman in a press release
The press release also stated that Singh's actions posed not only a security threat to Washington, but also exposed the smuggled individuals to various security and safety risks throughout their arduous smuggling journey from India to the United States, which often spanned weeks.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, between October and March of 2022, the US Border Patrol confirmed that 100 individuals had crossed the Canada-US border from Canada's Manitoba province into either North Dakota or Minnesota in the US.
This six-month tally surpasses the number of illegal border crossers encountered by US authorities throughout the previous year.
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