MONTREAL — Two people alleged to have participated in a human smuggling operation tied to the drownings of eight migrants in the St. Lawrence River are one step closer to being extradited to the United States.
Today a Quebec Superior Court judge ordered that Stephanie Square and Rahsontanohstha Delormier be committed into custody to await surrender to the U.S., where they are facing charges of conspiring to commit alien smuggling, alien smuggling for profit, and alien smuggling resulting in death.
They are accused in connection with the deaths of a Romanian family of four who were among eight migrants who drowned while trying to enter the U.S. from Canada in March 2023 through Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, which straddles Quebec, Ontario and New York state.
Square is alleged to have asked Delormier to take the family across the St. Lawrence River, but after the boat he was driving broke down, she allegedly found a second boat and driver, who also drowned during the crossing.
A lawyer for Delormier said his client plans to appeal the decision and argued there was no crime committed in the U.S., and that any crime that did take place can be tried in Canada.
The federal justice minister makes the final decision on extradition requests.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2025.
The Canadian Press
