PLATTSBURGH — A dual Canadian-American citizen who was extradited from Canada pleaded guilty today for his role in a human smuggling conspiracy that resulted in the deaths of a family, including two children under the age of 3, in the St. Lawrence River.
According to court documents, Rahsontanohstha “Storm” Delormier, 31, of the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Territory in Canada, was a boat driver for a human smuggling organization, or HSO.
Delormier, working with the organization, routinely smuggled aliens into the United States by piloting boats across the St. Lawrence River.
Beginning in and around 2023, the defendant worked with an HSO that smuggled illegal aliens of various countries from mainland Cornwall, Ontario, to Cornwall Island, Canada, and through the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian reserve into northern New York.
On the night of March 28, 2023, and into the early morning of March 29, 2023, a co-conspirator travelled to mainland Cornwall and transported a family of four Romanian aliens to Cornwall Island in a truck provided by Delormier.
At approximately 3:06 a.m., the co-conspirator dropped the family off at Delormier’s residence to be brought across the St. Lawrence River.
Delormier launched a boat from a landing in St. Regis, Quebec, intending to pick up the family, but due to high winds, freezing temperatures and limited visibility, his boat broke down and he became stranded on St. Regis Island.
Later that night, a co-conspirator transported the Romanian family to a public boat launch on the tip of Cornwall Island where a different boat pilot picked them up and attempted to take them across the river.
While in transit, the boat capsized due to severe weather, resulting in the Romanian family and the boat driver’s deaths.
Delormier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit alien smuggling and four counts of alien smuggling for financial gain.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 27. He faces a minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 15 years.
“Rahsontanohstha Delormier’s actions led to the deaths of two young children and their parents, a loss that will be felt forever by their family and the North Country community,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Anthony Patrone of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations Buffalo Field Office.
“In response to this tragedy, HSI Massena and our federal, state, tribal and Canadian partners worked tirelessly to dismantle this deadly smuggling organization, sending a clear message that those who endanger lives at our border will be identified, brought to justice, and removed from our communities.”
Co-conspirators Dakota Montour, 32, and Kawisiiostha Celecia Sharrow, 45, both of the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian reserve; Janet Terrance, 46, of Hogansburg; and Timothy Oakes, 35, from the Akwesasne Mohwak Indian reserve, entered guilty pleas on Jan. 23, 2025; Oct. 8, 2024; March 6, 2025; and May 11, respectively.
Delormier and co-conspirator Stephanie Square, 53, of the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Territory, were extradited to the United States from Canada in 2025.
Square is awaiting trial.
Trial Attorneys Lindsey Roberson and Alexandra Skinnion of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Stitt for the Northern District of New York are prosecuting the case.