June 23, 2009

CANADIAN ALIEN SMUGGLER SENTENCED TO JAIL FOR 60 MONTHS

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that yesterday Shahbazz Angum, 40, of Mississauga, Ontario, was sentenced in United States District Court to imprisonment for 60 months on his plea of guilty to alien smuggling for financial gain. Chief United States District Judge William K. Sessions III also ordered Angum to serve two years of federal supervised release after his incarceration.

According to court records, on July 22, 2004, United States Border Patrol agents inspected a vehicle at a Customs and Border Patrol checkpoint near White River Junction and determined that the occupants had not been legally admitted to the United States. Upon further investigation by United States Border Patrol (USBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), agents learned that three of the occupants had paid Angum to be smuggled from the Montreal, Canada area to New York City, which Angum sought to accomplish through the assistance of the driver of the vehicle, Abdikarim Mursal, and the front seat passenger, Ambikalpakan Thiagarajah.

Mursal and Thiagarajah, both of Canada, were arrested and prosecuted in United States District Court for bringing the three aliens to the United States. On May 31, 2005, Mursal was sentenced to imprisonment for the ten months he had been detained since his arrest. On September 30, 2005, Ambikalpakan was sentenced to imprisonment for the 14 months he had been detained since his arrest. The three smuggled aliens were processed administratively for deportation by the Department of Homeland Security.

On February 1, 2005, a federal grand jury sitting in Burlington returned a superseding indictment charging Angum with alien smuggling and related crimes. On December 19, 2007, Angum was arrested by Canadian authorities at the request of the United States and subsequently extradited to face the charges, arriving in Burlington on July 30, 2008. Angum was detained during the pendency of the prosecution.

Acting United States Attorney Paul J. Van de Graaf commended the investigation by ICE and USBP and the assistance provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Toronto Police Service Fugitive Squad. Angum was represented by Burlington attorney Ernest M. Allen, III. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Nolan.