A man who pleaded guilty to helping smuggle dozens of Chinese migrants into British Columbia has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.

Michael Shun Lok Kong, who was sentenced Friday in Richmond Provincial Court, must also pay a $175,000 fine and forfeit $135,000 in cash that was seized from his home during a police search.

Kong is accused of helping arrange illegal entry into Canada, between June 2014 and October 2015, for a total of 34 Chinese migrants, including several kids.

They had all traveled to the United States on visas issued in China by the U.S. consulate, according to a B.C. Supreme Court decision.

Kong allegedly helped them jump the border from the U.S. into British Columbia and then travel to the Toronto area, where they filed refugee claims, the decision said.

Kong was originally charged with seven offences under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. He pleaded guilty to four counts related to human smuggling and faced trial on one of the remaining counts.

Kong has long been under investigation by the Canada Border Services Agency, according to court documents. He was previously convicted of immigration offences in 2010 and 2013.

The charges came out of Project Interpretation, a CBSA investigation launched in 2012 to investigate human smuggling through the border at Peace Arch Park in South Surrey.