A California resident has pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle her husband, who does not have legal status in the United States, across the border from Canada. Tracy Routh Lautenslager, 53, admitted to conspiracy to bring aliens into the United States at a location other than a designated port of entry.
Lautenslager faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto presided over the plea hearing. Sentencing is scheduled for January 6, 2026 before U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen. Lautenslager was released with conditions pending further proceedings.
According to court documents, on April 1, 2025, Lautenslager drove into the United States through the Roosville Port of Entry in Montana and continued to the Swisher Lake area. That same morning, U.S. Border Patrol was alerted about a man walking across the international boundary from Canada into the United States illegally. Agents searched for him but were unable to locate him and believed he returned to Canada.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police later apprehended the man and took him to Roosville, British Columbia for identification and processing. The man was identified as Lautenslager’s husband—a citizen of Great Britain without lawful status in the United States.
Around this time, Lautenslager attempted to return to Canada looking for her husband but was denied entry due to suspicions of smuggling and sent back to the United States. She then spoke with law enforcement officers and admitted that she and her husband had planned for him to bypass official immigration procedures because he did not have legal status in the country. She explained their plan involved dropping her husband off on the Canadian side of the border while she entered through an official port so she could pick him up after he crossed illegally.
Lautenslager allowed authorities access to her cellphone; investigators found text messages between her and her husband discussing logistics during their attempt.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Zeno Baucus prosecuted this case following an investigation by U.S. Border Patrol.
“This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).”
