An Indian immigrant was convicted of transporting illegal aliens from India and Pakistan to the United States and faced deportation on completion of his prison term.

Harminder Singh, a 38-year-old resident of Kent, is a citizen of India and a legal resident of Washington. He has been found guilty of bringing a person into the United States illegally, transporting two and harbouring one illegal immigrant.

According to The Seattle Post Intelligencer, Singh was also found guilty of conspiring to smuggle and transport illegal immigrants.

Singh faces a mandatory minimum prison term of three years but could be sentenced to as many as ten years. A date for formal sentencing has not been set. It is said that upon finishing his sentence, Singh would be deported back to India.

Officially, it has been said that nationals from India and Pakistan paid large amounts of money as 'fees' to be smuggled into the US through Canada. Singh was said to be the contact person who transported them to the final destination once they were in America.

When Singh was arrested in April 2006, there was an illegal immigrant in his apartment. According to media reports, a total of 19 people have been charged in connection with this particular smuggling operation with all but eight having been convicted or pleaded guilty.