William O'Reilly Jr, a 23-year-old from Co Cork, is facing criminal charges in New York on allegations that he was a ringleader for a human smuggling operation at the New York - Canadian border.
O'Reilly was arrested in California on April 28 on the foot of an arrest warrant that was issued in the Northern District of New York on March 18.
The arrest warrant cites a criminal complaint signed by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent accusing O'Reilly of 'conspiring to bring aliens.'
Court records show O'Reilly's most recent employment as being with a roofing and siding company in Charleston, Massachusetts.
The criminal complaint relies on information put forth by someone anonymized as 'Coconspirator-1,' who was arrested and charged with 'conspiracy to bring aliens' in November 2024.
The criminal complaint against O'Reilly says: "Coconspirator-1 stated an individual, whom investigators later determined to be William J. O'Reilly, would contact Coconspirator-1 and other individuals when aliens needed to be smuggled into the United States from Canada.
"Coconspirator-1 stated individuals who wanted to be smuggled into the United States would contact O'Reilly.
"In turn, O'Reilly would contact Coconspirator-1 or other unnamed coconspirators to arrange smuggling.
"Coconspirator-1 stated he believed some of the 'Irish' (the aliens being smuggled) were involved with criminal activity.
"Once Coconspirator-1 and other coconspirators transported the aliens to the United States from Canada, the aliens would move to other locations.
"Coconspirator-1 stated aliens mostly went to New York City, but also said some aliens were transported to Boston.
"After obtaining a search warrant for Coconspirator-1's mobile cellular phone, law enforcement uncovered numerous text messages, voice messages, and voice calls between Coconspirator-1 and O'Reilly.
"In summary, on at least one occasion, O'Reilly informed Coconspirator-1 that he would need to prepare a boat to smuggle aliens from Canada into the United States.
"Coconspirator-1 would ask O'Reilly how many people would be transported and would make appropriate arrangements for transportation and boat space.
"Coconspirator-1 was paid in cash for his role. The aliens would have cash on their person when they were smuggled and would give the cash to other coconspirators.
"Coconspirator-1 would receive cash payment after the fact from coconspirators who received the cash from the aliens.
"The investigation has determined, after interviews with additional coconspirators and reviews of additional cellular phones, that O'Reilly was acting in a leadership role of an alien smuggling enterprise spanning the United States and Canada."
The maximum penalties O'Reilly faces are 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, three years’ supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
Mercury News reported on Thursday that O'Reilly remains in California pending extradition to New York, adding that he has not yet had the chance to respond in court or enter a plea.
O'Reilly is due to appear in court in Oakland, California, on Friday.
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