A federal judge sentenced a New York man to 60 months in prison after he attempted to smuggle six Indian migrants into New York from Canada last April. During the smuggling attempt, the boat he used to transport the migrants began to sink.

On March 1, Chief United States District Judge for the Northern District of New York Brenda K. Sannes sentenced Hagansburg, New York, resident Brian Lazore, 45, to 60 months in prison for conspiracy to commit alien smuggling, and three counts of alien smuggling, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of New York. Lazore pleaded guilty to the charges in August 2022.

On April 28,02022, an off-duty Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, police officer observed a boat leaving the Monte Carlo Hotel with six to eight people on board, according to court records obtained by Breitbart Texas. Canadian law enforcement officials responded to the area and observed the boat approaching the New York shore had begun to sink. The Canadian officials notified Swanton Sector Border Patrol officials in New York.

Massena Station Border Patrol agents teamed up with the Saint Regis Tribal Police Department, the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, and the Hogansburg-Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department (HAVFD) to rescue migrants, according to information obtained from Swanton Sector Border Patrol officials, Breitbart Texas reported at the time.

Members of the HAVFD and Border Patrol agents arrived and noted the boat was nearly submerged near the New York river bank at Akwesasne. The boat was nearly submerged by this time.

Court records state the air temperature at the time was 32 degrees Fahrenheit and the water temperature was a hazardous 40 degrees.

HAVFD rescue teams deployed a rescue boat that recovered the other six occupants. None of the migrants had life jackets or any other safety equipment.

Rescuers treated the people for hypothermia and released them to Border Patrol agents. The agents identified six of the occupants as citizens of India who were illegally present in the United States. The seventh occupant of the boat, a U.S. citizen, was later identified as Brian Lazore.

One of the Indian migrants later told the Border Patrol investigator they informed Lazore that none of them could swim. He said Lazore provided no water safety vests or equipment, the criminal complaint stated.

Prosecutors said Lazore admitted he was paid to smuggle the Indian migrants but the amount of the payment was not disclosed in court records.

In addition to the five-year prison sentence, Judge Sannes ordered an additional two years of supervised release to follow his incarceration. He was not fined.

The Swanton Sector is experiencing an unprecedented number of migrant crossings from Canada into New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire, Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia told the Champlain Valley’s ABC22 reporters.

“We’re seeing traffic across the entirety of the AOR (Area of Responsibility), [with] elevated levels in the Eastern New York area as well as the Newport, Vermont area,” Garcia stated.

The migrants apprehended in the sector between October 1, 2022, and January 31, 2023, included 945 Mexican nationals and 216 from Haiti or Guatemala, Garcia reported.

U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-New York 21st District) blamed President Joe Biden for the surge in migrant crossings from Canada into the U.S.

“Every state is a border state. Every district is a border district due to Joe Biden’s border crisis,” Stefanik told the local ABC affiliate. “Our taxpayers, brave Border Patrol Officers, and northern border communities should no longer have to bear the brunt of this crisis.”

Vermont Senator Peter Welch (D-New York) called the migrant surge into his state “profoundly troubling.”

During the first five months of Fiscal Year 23, Swanton Sector officials apprehended more than 1,900 migrants who illegally crossed the border from Canada into New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. This represents an increase of 866 percent over the same period in FY22, according to Border Patrol reports reviewed by Breitbart Texas.

In addition to the more than 1,900 apprehensions, another nearly 1,200 migrants are known got-aways.  These are migrants the Border Patrol knows entered the U.S. but were unable to be apprehended, the reports revealed. This represents an increase of more than 950 percent over the same period in FY22.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with additional information obtained from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.