Overview
- Oakes entered his plea on Monday to conspiracy, four counts of smuggling for profit, and four counts of smuggling resulting in death.
- Prosecutors say he staged migrants at his Cornwall Island home and piloted boats across the river, charging about $1,000 per person from countries including Romania and India.
- During a March 29, 2023 crossing, he left his boat for his brother to ferry a Romanian family in severe weather, and the vessel capsized, killing the family of four and Casey Oakes.
- Authorities later recovered the bodies of four Indian nationals from the river after the same attempt, bringing the reported death toll to nine.
- Investigators from U.S. and Canadian agencies, working through DOJ’s Joint Task Force Alpha, have secured several co‑conspirator pleas and two extraditions from Canada, reflecting the cross‑border complexity of the Akwesasne territory.