A New York woman has pleaded guilty to helping smuggle migrants across the Canada-U.S. border as part of an international operation that American authorities say primarily moved people from India into the United States.
Stacey Taylor, 43, of Plattsburgh, N.Y., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in alien smuggling and four counts of alien smuggling for profit, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. She faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison when she is sentenced on December 3.
The case stems from an incident near Churubusco, New York, just south of the Quebec border on January 20, 2025. During early morning hours that day, U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped Taylor’s vehicle and discovered four men inside. Authorities determined three were Indian nationals and one was Canadian. All four had crossed the border illegally on foot without inspection in freezing temperatures.
According to court documents, the men trekked through a wooded area before meeting Taylor, who was waiting in a vehicle to transport them farther into the United States. Investigators later found that Taylor’s cellphone contained coordinates showing where to collect the men and instructions for their pickup.
Taylor admitted she had picked up the four men and expected payment, according to prosecutors. Her phone records also indicated participation in multiple smuggling operations over several days prior.
The January 20, 2025 arrest did not end Taylor’s alleged involvement in human smuggling. The Justice Department reported that she was stopped again in connection with a suspected smuggling operation in August 2025 and implicated in another incident the following month.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Border Patrol as part of Joint Task Force Alpha, an initiative targeting transnational human-smuggling organizations. The Justice Department states that this task force has produced more than 477 arrests and 431 convictions involving smugglers and significant facilitators since its creation.
