Rajinder Pal Singh, a resident of California, was sentenced by a US District Court on Tuesday to 45 months in prison for human trafficking and money laundering.
New York: A 49-year-old Indian-origin man in the US has been sentenced to three years in prison for human trafficking. He had trafficked over 800 people using ride hailing app Uber. The accused, Rajinder Pal Singh alias Jaspal Gill, was found guilty in February.
The Department of Justice said in a press release that as a key member of a smuggling ring, he had smuggled hundreds of Indian nationals across the border into Canada. During this, he had taken more than US $ 500,000 from the citizens.
Rajinder Pal Singh, a resident of California, was sentenced by a US District Court on Tuesday to 45 months in prison for human trafficking and money laundering. Acting US Attorney Tessa M. Gorman said that over the past four years, Rajinder Singh has helped smuggle more than 800 Indian nationals into the US through the northern border and Washington.
He said that this act of the accused was not only a threat to the security of Washington but also to the security of the people smuggled through the smuggling route running from India to America. The accused damaged the hopes of people hoping for a better life in America and also imposed a huge debt of US$ 70,000 on them.
Since July 2018, Rajinder Singh and his associates used Uber to ferry people crossing the border illegally into the Seattle area of Canada. Between 2018 and 2022, Singh organized 600 people-smuggling trips. During investigation, USD 45,000 and some forged documents were recovered from the residence of the accused. Rajinder Singh was also living in the US illegally, he will be deported after completing his jail term.
