2 men convicted of charges tied to human smuggling after scheme led to an Indian family's death
Two men have been convicted by a Minnesota jury of charges related to human smuggling for participating in a scheme that led to the deaths of an Indian family who froze while trying to cross the Canada-U.S. border during a 2022 blizzard.
Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, an Indian national who prosecutors say went by the alias "Dirty Harry," and Steve Shand, 50, an American from Florida, were part of a sophisticated illegal operation that has been bringing increasing numbers of Indians into the U.S, prosecutors said.
Federal prosecutors said a family of four — 39-year-old Jagdish Patel; his wife, Vaishaliben, who was in her mid-30s; their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi; and 3-year-old son, Dharmik — froze to death Jan. 19, 2022, while trying to cross the border into Minnesota in a scheme organized by Patel and Shand. Patel is a common Indian surname, and the victims were not related to Harshkumar Patel.
"To earn a few thousand dollars, these traffickers put men, women and children in extraordinary peril leading to the horrific and tragic deaths of an entire family," U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said shortly after the verdict was reached Friday.
Before the jury's conviction on Friday, the federal trial in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, saw testimony from an alleged participant in the smuggling ring, a survivor of the treacherous journey across the northern border, border patrol agents and forensic experts.
"The words immoral depravity are the best that I have to describe the conduct that led to this terrible, terrible result," Luger said.
Defense attorneys were pitted against each other, with Shand's team arguing that he was unwittingly roped into the scheme by Patel. Patel's lawyers, The Canadian Press reported, said their client had been misidentified. They said "Dirty Hary," the alleged nickname for Patel found in Shand's phone, is a different person. Bank records and witness testimony from those who encountered Shand near the border don't tie him to the crime, they added.
Prosecutors said Patel was the coordinator of the operation while Shand was a driver. Shand was to pick up 11 Indian migrants on the Minnesota side of the Canadian border, prosecutors said. Only seven survived the foot crossing. Canadian authorities found two parents and their young children later that morning, dead from the cold.
The men could face maximum sentences as long as 20 years for the first two counts, 10 years for the third count and five years for the fourth count, the U.S. Attorney's Office told The Associated Press before the trial. Luger said Friday that various factors will be considered in determining the sentence that will be sought.