Second CA man sentenced for smuggling people across border into Whatcom County
A Santa Rosa, California resident was sentenced to five months in prison Wednesday for his role in illegally smuggling noncitizens across the northern border, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
The office said 27-year-old Rajat Rajat, a citizen of India, and three others operated a Santa Rosa-based smuggling organization. According to court records, the organization directed noncitizens to travel to Peace Arch Park in Canada, and then helped them cross the border illegally before transporting them to “various locations” in Washington and throughout the U.S.
Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller called Rajat a “middle-level manager” of the smuggling scheme. Prosecutors said Rajat was “essential to its function,” and that his role in the organization “was not one that can be considered minor.”
The judge ordered Rajat to serve three years of supervised release following prison, but said he will likely be deported once he finishes his prison sentence.
Two other defendants in the case, 36-year-old Sushil Kumar and 68-year-old Bobby Joe Green, were sentenced in March to six and four months in prison, respectively. The fourth person allegedly involved in the case, 20-year-old Sneha, will go to trial in January.