Man given five months in U.S. jail for smuggling people across border from B.C.

The U.S. District Attorney’s office in Seattle says a 27-year-old man has been sentenced to five months in jail for helping smuggle eight Indian nationals across the border between British Columbia and Washington state.

It says Rajat Rajat, an Indian citizen who lives in California, was indicted alongside three other people.

The office says the group was connected to at least two attempts at smuggling in late 2023 that involved eight Indian citizens.

The office says in a statement that U.S. District Judge Tana Lin noted that Rajat played a "critical role in the smuggling conspiracy, arranging travel and paying co-conspirators."

He was handed a five-month sentence, and two other defendants were given four- and six-month jail terms, while a woman, who is in the country on student visa, is scheduled to go to trial in January.

The release says Lin also ordered Rajat to serve three years of supervised release after jail, but she noted that he will likely be deported following his term.

Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller called Rajat a "mid-level manager of this smuggling scheme," who helped non-citizens cross the border and even fronting some travel costs for them.

In asking for a jail term, the prosecution wrote to the court that it was a co-ordinated, transnational scheme that had operated repeatedly over an extended time.

"Mr. Rajat’s role in the organization was not one that can be considered minor. Rather, he was essential to its function," the statement said.

"Mr. Rajat actively promoted the scheme by purchasing flights for his 'customers' and communicating directly with them, advising non-citizens on how and when to clandestinely enter the United States," it said.

The statement says that in November 2023, surveillance video caught multiple people jumping a fence, just east of Peace Arch Park between Surrey, B.C., and Blaine, Wash.

Border Patrol agents saw five people run to a white minivan, which was then stopped by officers.

The statement says five India nationals were found inside the van.

The investigation revealed Rajat asked for payments from the non-citizens in return for being smuggled into the United States, the statement says.

It says the next month, Rajat met three citizens of India in Peace Arch Park and directed them to cross through the park and get into a vehicle parked near the border.

That car was also stopped, and the office says the non-citizens "indicated they had promised to make monetary payments to be smuggled into the U.S."

It says Rajat was then picked up near the border.