A dual Canadian American Citizen pleaded guilty today for his role in a human smuggling conspiracy that resulted in the deaths of a family, including two children under the age of three, in the St. Lawrence River.
According to court documents, Timothy Oakes, 35, from the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Territory in Canada, was a key facilitator in a human smuggling organization (HSO) that smuggled aliens from Canada into northern New York. Oakes, working with the HSO, routinely smuggled aliens into the United States by piloting boats across the St. Lawrence River. Additionally, Oakes used his home on Cornwall Island, Ontario as a staging area for aliens before the HSO smuggled them into the United States. Oakes earned approximately $1,000 for every alien whom he smuggled into the United States.
Beginning in and around 2023, the defendant worked with an HSO that smuggled aliens from mainland Cornwall, Ontario, Canada to Cornwall Island and through the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian reserve into the Northern District of New York. The organization routinely smuggled aliens from various countries, to include Romania and India. The organization arranged for aliens to stay in local motels in Cornwall before they were transported to the border area of the reserve. The organization would then transport aliens from mainland Cornwall to Cornwall Island and stage the aliens along the banks of the St. Lawrence River. Other members of the organization would then transport the aliens by boat over the St. Lawrence River to drivers who transported them further into the Northern District of New York. The defendant’s role in the organization was to stage aliens at his home and, at times, transport the aliens by boat across the river.
On the night of March 29, 2023, Oakes transported a family of four Romanian nationals to a public boat launch on the tip of Cornwall Island.At approximately 9:30 p.m., Oakes brought his boat to the boat launch where he left it and the Romanian family for his brother Casey Oakes to use to bring the aliens across the river into the United States. While in transit, and shortly thereafter, the boat capsized due to severe weather. As a result, the Romanian family and Casey Oakes died. The defendant proceeded with the transport despite members of the alien smuggling organization being aware of the dangerous weather conditions on the St. Lawrence River, specifically high winds, freezing temperatures, and limited visibility.
Oakes 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. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 11 and faces a minimum penalty of five years and a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Co-conspirators Dakota Montour, 32, and Kawisiiostha Celecia Sharrow, 45, both of the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian reserve, New York, and Janet Terrance, 46, of Hogansburg, New York, entered guilty pleas on Jan. 23, 2025, Oct. 8, 2024, and March 6, 2025, respectively. Co-conspirators Stephanie Square, 53, and Rahsontanohstha Delormier, also known as Storm, 31, both of the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Territory in Canada, were extradited to the United States from Canada in 2025 at the request of the U.S. government and are awaiting trial.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III for the Northern District of New York and Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Buffalo Field Office made today’s announcement.
HSI Massena engaged in an extensive years-long investigation of the case, with assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., CBP’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force, New York State Police, Canada Border Services Agency, Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police Department, Ontario Provincial Police, Sûreté du Québec, St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Cornwall Police Service. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Square and Delormier.
The investigation and indictment were supported and prosecuted by Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), the Department’s lead effort in combating high-impact human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). A highly successful partnership between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes human smuggling and trafficking and related immigration crimes that impact public safety and border security. JTFA’s mission is to target the leaders and organizers of Cartels and TCOs involved in human smuggling and trafficking throughout the Americas. The Attorney General has elevated and expanded JTFA to target the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating not only in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but also in Canada, the Caribbean and the maritime border, and elsewhere. Led by the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, the Office of International Affairs, and the Office of Enforcement Operations, among others, JTFA has dedicated Assistant U.S. Attorney-detailees from the Southern District of California; District of Arizona; District of New Mexico; Western and Southern Districts of Texas; Southern District of Florida; Northern District of New York; and District of Vermont. JTFA also partners with other USAOs throughout the country and supports high-priority cases in any district. All JTFA cases rely on substantial law enforcement resources from DHS, including ICE/HSI and CBP/BP and OFO, as well as FBI and other law enforcement agencies. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 455 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 400 U.S. convictions; and more than 350 significant jail sentences imposed, and forfeitures of substantial assets.
Trial Attorney Lyndsey Roberson of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Stitt for the Northern District of New York are prosecuting the case.
