Minn. FERGUS FALLS.U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger said Friday that two individuals were found guilty on four counts of human smuggling for their involvement in a cross-border operation that resulted in the untimely deaths of a family of four.
Following a five-day federal trial in U.S. District Court, Steve Anthony Shand, 50, and Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, commonly known as Dirty Harry or Harry Patel, were convicted guilty. The two men allegedly planned to smuggle Indian citizens from Canada into the United States between December 2021 and January 2022, arranging logistics, transferring people across the border, and getting paid for their services, according to the prosecution.
Following the events of January 19, 2022, when U.S. Border Patrol officials halted a 15-passenger van driven by Shand near the U.S.-Canada border in rural Minnesota, the case garnered worldwide attention. Five Indian nationals who had crossed the border in the hopes of being picked up were found strolling close by in below-freezing weather. After more than seven hours of trudging in -36 degree weather, the party carried a rucksack filled with supplies and children’s clothes meant for a different family.
The smuggling network was blamed for the tragic result when Canadian authorities discovered the frozen bodies of a family of four—two adults and two children—near the border. Prosecutors provided proof that Patel and Shand’s business, which exploited migrants and put them in danger, included payment to bring the family into the US.
According to U.S. Attorney Luger, this trial revealed the unspeakable brutality of human smuggling. We have brought the guilty to justice today.
Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Border Patrol, with support from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, conducted a joint investigation into the matter. Anyone who entrusts their life to a smuggler is endangering both their own and their family’s lives, Chief Patrol Agent Scott D. Garrett cautioned.
Due to their involvement in the lethal operation, Patel and Shand may be sentenced to lengthy prison terms at a later time.
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