Stacey Taylor, a 42-year-old resident of Plattsburgh, New York, was arraigned on Monday following her indictment by a federal grand jury in Albany. The indictment, returned on October 2, charges Taylor with participating in an international conspiracy to smuggle foreign nationals—primarily from India—into the United States across the northern border.
Court records state that U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped Taylor’s vehicle near Churubusco, New York, in the early morning hours of January 20. Inside her vehicle were four foreign nationals: three Indian citizens and one Canadian citizen. Agents determined these individuals had just crossed into the United States illegally from Canada without inspection and in freezing temperatures. A review of Taylor’s cellphone revealed text messages suggesting she had been involved in several other smuggling operations days before this incident. Since her arrest in January 2025, authorities say Taylor was again stopped during a suspected smuggling attempt in August and implicated in another case as recently as September.
The indictment charges Taylor with conspiracy to commit alien smuggling and four counts of alien smuggling for profit; three counts are considered second or subsequent offenses. If convicted, she faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years imprisonment per count for alien smuggling for profit, with additional penalties possible for repeat offenses.
Matthew R. Galeotti, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III for the Northern District of New York announced the charges.
The investigation is being conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Rouse’s Point and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Border Patrol Champlain Station. Additional support came from HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington D.C., CBP’s International Interdiction Task Force, and other agencies.
The case stems from coordinated efforts under Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), which is tasked with targeting cartels and transnational criminal organizations involved in human smuggling networks affecting public safety and border security within the Americas. JTFA includes personnel from various U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along key borders as well as components of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division such as the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP), Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, Office of Enforcement Operations, Office of International Affairs, among others. JTFA also works closely with law enforcement partners including DHS, FBI, DEA, resulting so far in over 425 arrests domestically and internationally related to alien smuggling activities.
Trial Attorney Chelsea Schinnour from HRSP and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Stitt for the Northern District of New York are prosecuting this case.
This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America—a national initiative led by the Department of Justice aiming to combat illegal immigration by dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations while protecting communities from violent crime perpetrators through combined efforts involving Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods.
