A 50-year-old man from Baker Brook has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit human smuggling.
The charge stems from an incident in July 2016, when authorities were made aware that a 46-year-old woman had entered the United States illegally by crossing the Saint John River with a paddle boat. The woman, an Ecuadorean national, was apprehended by U.S. authorities in Van Buren, Maine, shortly after the crossing. She remains in the United States.
On July 28, 2016, members of the RCMP arrested two men, a 67-year-old from Edmundston and a 50-year-old from Baker Brook. On Oct 17, both men were charged with conspiracy to commit human smuggling.
On August 31, 2017, both men appeared in Edmundston Provincial Court. Richard Cyr of Baker Brook pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit human smuggling and was fined $4,000 plus a $1,200 surcharge. The charge against the other man was withdrawn.