For a substantial fee, conspirators directed people how to cross the northern border near Blaine, and arranged rides to transport them from border area

April 26, 2024 - Seattle – On Thursday, a federal grand jury in Seattle has indicted four people for a conspiracy to smuggle non-citizens across the northern border for profit, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. The group has been connected to two smuggling episodes in November and December 2023. The four named in the indictment were arrested Seattle, Chicago, and Santa Rosa, California. They will be transported to Seattle for arraignment in the weeks ahead.

According to a criminal complaint and the indictment, the four conspirators have been linked to two smuggling events involving eight different citizens of India. The defendants are charged with conspiracy to bring in and transport non-citizens for profit, eight counts of bringing a non-citizen into the U.S. at a place other than a designated Port of Entry and eight counts of attempted illegal transportation of a non-citizen for financial gain.

The defendants are: Rajat Rajat, 26, of Santa Rosa, California who was arrested in Chicago; Sushil Kumar, 35, of Santa Rosa, California; Bobby Joe Green, 67, of Santa Rosa, California; and Sneha, 20, a citizen of India who is in the U.S. on a student visa and goes by just her last name. She was arrested in Renton and released on an appearance bond.

According to records filed in the case, on November 27, 2023, a motion-activated camera caught multiple people jumping a fence near the Boundary Village Apartments. The fence is a quarter mile east of Peace Arch Park. Border Patrol agents near the apartments saw five people run to a white minivan. The vehicle was stopped by Border Patrol. Five citizens of India were in the van with Bobby Joe Green as the driver. The investigation revealed that Kumar and Rajat directed the non-citizens on where and how to cross the border, and that Rajat paid Green to transport the non-citizens from the border. Rajat asked for monetary payments from the non-citizens for being smuggled into the U.S.

Similarly, in December 2023, Rajat contacted three citizens of India in Peace Arch Park and allegedly directed them how to cross through the park and get into a car driven by Sneha. The car was stopped, and the non-citizens were interviewed. They indicated they had promised to make monetary payments to be smuggled into the U.S. Rajat was picked up near the border after Sneha and the three Indian nationals had been taken into custody.

All of the charges in the indictment are punishable by up to ten years in prison.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Border Patrol.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jin Kim.