New York Woman Admits to Multiple Human Smuggling Trips Near Canadian Border

Stacey Taylor, a 43-year-old resident of Plattsburgh, New York, entered a guilty plea for conspiring to smuggle illegal immigrants and for four counts of alien smuggling for profit. In January 2025, Border Patrol agents stopped her vehicle near the hamlet of Churubusco, discovering three Indian nationals and one Canadian who had entered the United States on foot through a wooded area. Investigators found that Taylor had received the migrants' location via text and was paid for transporting them inland.

Further examination of her phone revealed communications indicating involvement in additional smuggling attempts in August and September. She admitted to picking up the four men and expecting compensation. The court scheduled her sentencing for December, where she faces at least five years behind bars. The case was part of a broader effort by Joint Task Force Alpha, which reports hundreds of arrests and convictions related to human smuggling.