Plattsburgh resident Stacey Taylor, 42, was arraigned Monday, Dec. 1, after a federal grand jury in Albany returned an indictment on Oct. 2 charging her with conspiring to engage in alien smuggling and four counts of alien smuggling for profit, the US Department of Justice announced on Friday, Dec. 5.
Three of those counts are designated as second or subsequent offenses, increasing potential penalties, federal officials said.
According to court records, Taylor was first stopped by US Border Patrol agents on Jan. 20, 2025, near Churubusco, in Clinton County. Agents allegedly found four people, including three Indian nationals and one Canadian national, inside her vehicle. Investigators determined the group had just crossed the border illegally on foot in freezing conditions, without inspection…