Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, and Steve Anthony Shand, 50, were found guilty by a federal jury in Minnesota on Friday of their participation in a human smuggling operation that killed four Indian nationals, including two children, close to the U.S.-Canada border.
Prosecutors provided proof that Patel, also known as Dirty Harry, and Shand plotted to sneak dozens of Indian migrants into the US from Canada between December 2021 and January 2022. As part of the operation, migrants who had entered Canada on student visas were driven across the Manitoba-Minnesota border and then transported to U.S. locations, including Chicago.
The case focused on an event that occurred on January 19, 2022, when Shand was stopped by the U.S. Border Patrol in a van close to the Minnesota-North Dakota border, less than a mile from Canada. Later, five Indian nationals were discovered close by after they had been trudging in below-freezing weather to meet Shand. One of the group members explained that a rucksack filled with supplies for children belonged to a family of four who had been split up during the trip.
Later, on the Canadian side of the border, Canadian authorities found the frozen bodies of the family—two parents, an 11-year-old daughter, and a 3-year-old son. That night, the temperature had dropped to 36 degrees below zero. Patel and Shand were paid to smuggle the family despite the life-threatening circumstances, according to the evidence.
Four charges of people smuggling led to the conviction of both men. On the first two counts, each faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail; on the other counts, they face a maximum sentence of 10 years. Their punishments will be decided later by a federal judge.
With support from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the U.S. Border Patrol looked into the case.
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