Man With Thurston County Home Pleads Guilty to Profiting From Smuggling Indian Nationals Into U.S.

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A 49-year-old man who owns a home in Lacey pleaded guilty on Wednesday to smuggling Indian nationals across the northern border for profit.

Rajinder Pal Singh, also known as Jaspal Gill, admitted to collecting more than $500,000 by smuggling people to Seattle and then to the Midwest, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Nicholas W. Brown. He allegedly used his Lacey home as a stash house for people smuggled into the country.

Federal law enforcement arrested Singh in Lacey in May 2022, according to court records. On Wednesday, Singh pleaded guilty to "conspiracy to transport and harbor certain aliens for profit" and "conspiracy to commit money laundering" in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Both crimes are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the news release. In reaching a plea deal, both sides agreed to recommend Singh serve 45 months in prison.

Singh, who is not in the United States legally, will likely be deported after being released from prison, according to the news release.

Singh also reportedly agreed to forfeit cash and other personal property law enforcement seized as well as $500,000 in proceeds he collected through the smuggling operation.

A judge will decide Singh's sentence during a hearing scheduled for May 9.

The smuggling operation was active since at least 2018, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. However, it slowed during the pandemic when Canada limited the entry of non-citizens. As pandemic restrictions loosed, the operation started back up.

Court records indicate Homeland Security Investigations in Blaine first started investigating Singh in July 2018. At the time, investigators suspected Singh was smuggling non-citizens into the country through Whatcom County.

Investigators later discovered Singh was party to a smuggling ring that used Uber drivers to transport people to various locations in the greater Seattle area. They obtained 17 account records from Uber to piece together how the operation worked.



In all, investigators believe these 17 accounts charged more than $80,000 for trips tied to the smuggling operation between July 2018 and April 2022.

The drivers allegedly took people from the Canadian border to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. From there, the people would be driven to suspected stash houses and motels.

Investigators surveilled the homes and observed people coming and going. One such house was located on the 2700 block of Fiddleback Street Northeast in Lacey, just north of Britton Parkway, according to court records.

Singh's spouse bought the Lacey home in February 2019, court records show. However, the release says Singh also owned two homes in Elk Grove, California.

From mid-2018 to May 2022, the release says Singh arranged over 600 trips for Indian nationals. Once they arrived in Washington, Singh reportedly coordinated with co-conspirators to transport the people east with one-way vehicle rentals.

The smuggling organization charged about $11,000 per person, according to the news release.

The release says Singh and his conspirators laundered proceeds in "sophisticated" ways.

In one exchange, funds were reportedly sent via Hawala from India to New York. A cash smuggling fee was then collected in New York, converted into a check and then sent to a co-conspirator in Kentucky. The money would then be "washed" through multiple financial accounts to obscure their origin, according to the release.

Investigators searched Singh's homes in Lacey and California. At one California home, they reportedly found $45,000 in cash and counterfeit identity documents.

They also found copies of falsified documents that were previously submitted to Washington immigration judges. These documents were used in bond hearings for smuggled people who immigration authorities arrested.