Quebec Woman Sentenced for Transporting Illegal Aliens

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK –Audrey Bush, 46, of Akwesasne, Quebec, was sentenced yesterday to serve ten (10) months imprisonment, to be followed by three (3) years of supervised release in connection with her plea of guilty to two counts of Transporting Illegal Aliens, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and United States Border Patrol Agent in Charge (Ogdensburg) Timothy Morgan. The defendant’s sentence included forfeiture of $1000, the fee she received for driving the aliens to Syracuse, New York.

As part of her guilty plea on November 9, 2016, Bush admitted to knowingly transporting two (2) Chinese citizens within the United States. Bush admitted that she picked up the two aliens at the Akwesasne Reservation and began to drive them to Syracuse, New York. Law enforcement officers stopped her vehicle in Hammond, New York, at which time the aliens were identified and determined to be in the United States illegally after crossing the St. Lawrence River from Canada without inspection by U.S. Immigration officers.

The case was investigated by the United States Border Patrol (Ogdensburg, NY Station) and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamara Thomson.