Lankan in NY jailed for people smuggling

BUFFALO: A Sri Lankan man living in upstate New York has been sentenced to time served, about seven months, for smuggling people from Canada into the United States by boat.

Mohanraj Selvarajah will face deportation following Monday’s sentencing in Federal Court in Buffalo. According to court papers, the 48-year-old Lockport resident told investigators he was given $5,000 to buy a boat in September 2007 and was told he would be paid more to smuggle three people into the United States.

He was arrested after a witness spotted him dropping people off at a Buffalo boat launch and called authorities.

Selvarajah’s lawyer says he will likely be returned to Sri Lanka alone, while his wife and three children remain in Canada, where they moved after his arrest.

AP