Ontario Woman Charged With Smuggling Two Aliens Into The United States In Lewiston

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Mary Ann Langridge, 63, of Toronto, Ontario, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with aiding and abetting alien smuggling. The charge carries a minimum penalty of three years in prison, a maximum of 10 years, and a $250,000 fine. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan P. Cantil, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, on May 21, 2019, a U.S. Border Patrol agent, after receiving a report of a suspicious vehicle operating in the area of Lewiston Landing in Lewiston, NY, located the vehicle, which was unoccupied, and began surveillance of the area. The agent spotted the defendant standing on the upper terrace area of Lewiston Landing waving toward a vessel which was on the Niagara River near the Lewiston Landing docks. There were occupants on board the vessel. As the vessel began to approach the woman on the dock, the agent began to approach the dock area along with other Border Patrol Agents. As the vessel reached the dock, it appeared that the occupants saw the agents approaching them, and pushed back onto the river and began to travel south away from Lewiston Landing.

The agents left the immediate area but continued to observe the vessel from another area where they couldn’t be seen. As the woman remained standing on the dock, the vessel returned, and without docking or tying-off the vessel, two individuals stepped off the vessel and on to the dock. The vessel then left the area, heading toward Canada.

An agent approached the woman, identified as the defendant, and the two individuals, identified as Rosa Guadelupe Lopez-Gomez and Leonardo Jimenez-De La Rosa. Lopez-Gomez and Jimenez-De La Rosa claimed to be citizens of Mexico and the Dominican Republic respectively, but did not have immigration documents which would allow them to be legally present in the United States. Langridge was placed under arrest for aiding and abetting alien smuggling. 

The defendant made an initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer and is being held pending a detention hearing on May 24, 2019.

The criminal complaint is the result of plea is the result of an investigation by U.S. Border Patrol, under the direction of Patrol Agent-in-Charge Josh Barrett.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

# # # #