A 31-year-old man pleaded guilty last week for his role in a human smuggling conspiracy that led to the 2023 drowning deaths of a family of four, including two children under the age of three, in the St. Lawrence River.

Rahsontanohstha Delormier, who also goes by the name “Storm,” is a dual Canadian-American citizen from Akwesasne, a Kanien’kehá:ka nation that straddles the Canada-U.S. border about 120 kilometres southwest of Montreal.

Assistant attorney general A. Tysen Duva of the U.S. Justice Department’s criminal division called the case a “tragic example of what happens when alien smugglers act for their own greed with callous disregard for human life and for the orderly administration of our nation’s immigration laws.”

“Through investigations and prosecutions, we will continue to eliminate alien smuggling networks that flout our laws and evade lawful entry at our borders,” Duva wrote in a news release published by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) last Friday.

According to court documents, Delormier operated a boat for a human smuggling organization that illegally transported people from Canada into northern New York. 

Delormier routinely ferried individuals across the St. Lawrence River to evade border security, the DOJ said in its news release.

Delormier, who was arrested in Canada in August 2024, 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 and faces a minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Fatal crossing attempt

Over the course of the night on March 28 and 29, 2023, a co-conspirator travelled to the mainland of Cornwall, Ont., where they picked up a Romanian family of four and drove them to Cornwall Island in a truck provided by Delormier, according to court documents.

“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 on the St. Lawrence River, Delormier’s boat broke down and he became stranded on St. Regis Island,” the DOJ said.

With Delormier stranded, 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 the family across the St. Lawrence River, according to the DOJ. 

“While in transit, the boat capsized due to severe weather. As a result, the Romanian family and the boat driver died,” read the DOJ statement. 

Delormier is one of several smugglers who faced charges in connection with the operation. Four of his co-conspirators have already pleaded guilty, including Timothy Oakes of Akwesasne, who entered his plea on May 11.

Meanwhile, another co-conspirator, 53-year-old Stephanie Square of Akwesasne was extradited from Canada to the United States in 2025 and is currently awaiting trial.