NEW YORK
A dual Canadian–American citizen, Stephanie Square, 52, of the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation, made her initial court appearance last week in Plattsburgh, New York, after being extradited from Canada to face federal charges tied to a human smuggling conspiracy that killed a family of four, including two young children, in the St. Lawrence River.
A June 2024 federal indictment in the Northern District of New York charged Square with conspiracy to smuggle aliens, four counts of smuggling for profit, and four counts resulting in death.
She was arrested in Canada in August 2024, and her extradition followed close cooperation between U.S. and Canadian law enforcement.
Co-defendants:
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Timothy Oakes, 34 (AMIR) — arrested June 15, 2025; detained pending trial.
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Dakota Montour, 31, Kawisiiostha Celecia Sharrow, 43, and Janet Terrance, 45 — all pleaded guilty between October 2024 and March 2025.
According to court filings, Square led an alien smuggling organization that moved people across the U.S.–Canada border through Akwesasne.
In March 2023, she allegedly arranged to smuggle a Romanian family of four across the river despite dangerous weather.
Square recruited drivers, including Montour, to transport the family to Oakes’s home on Cornwall Island, a known smuggling hub.
Late on March 29, 2023, residents heard cries for help on the river amid high winds. Square later told Montour to search the banks and then delete messages.
By March 31, authorities had recovered the bodies of the family and Oakes’s light blue boat; the boat captain’s body surfaced eight months later.