Canada-U.S. citizen in custody in deadly human smuggling case

Searchers look for victims Friday, March 31, 2023 after a boat capsized and left six people dead and one infant missing in Akwesasne, Que. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

A dual Canadian-American citizen U.S. authorities allege was part of a deadly human smuggling operation that left migrants drowned in the St. Lawrence River will remain in custody following a detention hearing in the Northern District of New York District Court on Tuesday.

The U.S. Justice Department said 34-year-old Timothy Oakes was arrested as he attempted to enter the United States on June 15.

Oakes is from Akwesasne, which straddles the Canada-U.S. border west of Montreal. He was indicted in April for conspiring with others to smuggle people from Canada into the United States, as well as four counts of alien smuggling for profit and four counts of alien smuggling resulting in death.

U.S. court documents allege Oakes was a key facilitator in the smuggling operation which left a Romanian family of four, including two young children, dead in March 2023.

The family members, who were not named in the U.S. court documents, have been identified as Florin Iordache, his wife Cristina (Monalisa) Zenaida Iordache, their two-year-old daughter Evelin and one-year-old son Elyen.

“This case shows the terrible perils of illegally crossing the border,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York John A. Sarcone III said in a news release Tuesday. “Four family members died because a smuggling network put them in harm’s way.”

Court documents allege that Oakes routinely smuggled people into the United States by boat across the St. Lawrence River. Documents said he was paid $1,000 per person.

Court documents said Oakes housed the Romanian family for about 24 hours in March 2023 before transporting them along with a boat to a public launch site. His brother, Casey Oakes, was piloting the boat intending to reach northern New York.

The boat capsized, killing all four members of the migrant family and Oakes’ brother.

Four members of a family from India were also on the boat and drowned but the U.S. indictment against Oakes does not include their deaths.

Last year, RCMP announced arrests in connection with the deaths of 50-year-old Praveenbhai Chaudhari, his 45-year-old wife Dakshaben, their 20-year-old son Meet and their daughter Vidhi, 23.

Law enforcement has said Akwesasne’s geography across the international border makes it a popular spot for smugglers of both humans and contraband.

The U.S. Justice Department said those involved in the tragedy knew about dangerous conditions on the St. Lawrence River on the day of the drownings.

United States-based Dakota Montour, 31, Kawisiiostha Celecia Sharrow, 43, and Janet Terrance, 45, previously entered guilty pleas in relation to the tragedy.

The news release said Montour admitted he was aware of the dangerous weather -- high winds, freezing temperatures and limited visibility -- yet the family of four was still loaded into the small boat.

“As alleged, Oakes and his co-conspirators profited from a human smuggling operation with a singular, cold-hearted aim: making money by bringing illegal aliens into the United States, regardless of the danger to human life involved,” Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in the news release.

“Their greed resulted in the deaths of a mother, a father, and two small children, as well as one of the defendants’ own brothers.”

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press