Prison time for Akwesasne human smuggler

The port of entry at Hogansburg, N.Y. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston, File)

AKWESASNE, N.Y. – A woman from Akwesasne (St. Regis, Que. and Hogansburg, N.Y.) has been sentenced to three years in prison for her role in a human smuggling operation.

That’s according to North Country Now, citing the U.S. Department of Justice.

Terri Ann Bush, 43, had pleaded guilty on June 21, 2016 and was sentenced on Wednesday (Oct. 19).

A New York State police officer had stopped a vehicle in mid-November 2015 where the driver claimed they were heading to New York City from the Canada-U.S. border.

Also in the vehicle was Terri Ann Bush and another passenger, identified as an Israeli citizen.

While the driver was allowed to proceed with a traffic ticket, border agents and troopers later learned the Israeli was wanted for being unlawfully in the United States.

Border agents stopped the vehicle the next day, heading back from New York City but the Israeli citizen wasn’t with them.

He was located and arrested in Philadelphia and prosecuted in New York for illegal entry.

The driver also pleaded guilty to an alien smuggling charge, the paper stated.