TORONTO -- A Canadian man has pleaded to human smuggling charges in the United States after being convicted of similar charges over the past 18 years.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that Srikajamukan Chelliah, a Sri Lanka-born Canadian citizen, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring Sri Lankans through the Caribbean and into America for financial gain.
The 55-year-old was flown to the U.S. on an extradition request in August 2020 after serving a prison sentence in the Turks and Caicos Islands on local charges of assisting illegal entry.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Chelliah admitted to working with other human smugglers to facilitate the “travel of aliens” to Canada via the Caribbean through the U.S. between July and October 2019 in exchange for payment.
The U.S. Department of Justice says that Chelliah arranged for the individuals to be transported from the airport in Port Au Prince, Haiti, to a hotel where Chelliah provided them with food. Authorities said Chelliah then arranged for transportation by boat from Haiti to Turks and Caicos Islands, then to the Bahamas, and then by boat to Miami.
"By participating in a smuggling operation which planned to illegally transport individuals through various countries, including the United States, the defendant jeopardized the national security of the United States for his own financial benefit," Acting Assistant U.S. Attorney General Nicholas McQuaid said in a press release.
"As this case demonstrates, the Criminal Division is committed to working with our law enforcement partners both here and abroad to bring human smugglers to justice and to disrupt and dismantle the international networks they operate," he added.
U.S. authorities say Chelliah’s sentencing will occur at a later date.
Chelliah, who is also known as Mohan and Richie, was arrested in October 2019 when authorities in Turks and Caicos came upon a sailboat that had entered their waters from Haiti. The boat was carrying Chelliah and 158 passengers, including 28 Sri Lankans and one Indian, who the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RT&CIPF) said were being smuggled.
Chelliah was convicted on local immigration charges and sentenced to 12 months in prison in connection with the incident. According to the RT&CIPF, Chelliah was previously convicted of human smuggling-related offences in the U.S. in 2003 and 2012.
