Human smuggling leader given 10 years after Indian family of four froze to death on US-Canada border
The convicted leader of a human-smuggling plot, in which an Indian family of four froze to death while trying to enter the US from Canada in a blizzard more than three years ago, was sentenced in Minnesota on Wednesday to 10 years in prison.
Federal prosecutors had recommended nearly 20 years for Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, and almost 11 years for Steve Anthony Shand, the driver who was supposed to pick the family up. Shand was given 6.5 years on Wednesday, with two years' supervised release.
'The crime in many respects is extraordinary because it did result in the unimaginable death of four individuals, including two children,' US District Judge John Tunheim said. 'These were deaths that were clearly avoidable.'
Patel's defence lawyer, Thomas Leinenweber, told the court before sentencing that Patel maintains his innocence and says he was no more than a 'low man on the totem pole'. Mr Leinenweber asked for his client to be sentenced to time served, 18 months.
But acting US Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick said Patel exploited the migrants' hopes for a better life in America, out of his own greed.
'We should make no mistake, it was the defendant's greed that set in motion the facts that bring us here today,' she said.
Patel is likely to be deported to his native India after completing his sentence.
Mr Tunheim ordered Shand to report to prison on July 1 and agreed to recommend that he serve his sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Pensacola, Florida, where he can be near his family.
He handed down the sentences at the federal court in the north-western Minnesota city of Fergus Falls, where the two men were tried and convicted on four counts each last November.
Prosecutors said during the trial that Patel, an Indian national who they say went by the alias 'Dirty Harry', and Shand, a US citizen, were part of a sophisticated operation that brought dozens of people from India to Canada on student visas and then smuggled them across the US border.
They said the victims – Jagdish Patel, 39; his wife, Vaishaliben, who was in her mid-30s; their daughter, Vihangi, 11; and son Dharmik, 3 – froze to death. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police found their bodies just north of the border between Manitoba and Minnesota on January 19, 2022.
The family was from Dingucha, a village in the western Indian state of Gujarat, as was Patel. The victims were not related to the defendant. The couple were schoolteachers, local news reports said.
The father died while trying to protect his son's face from a 'blistering wind' with a frozen glove, prosecutor Michael McBride wrote. Vihangi was wearing 'ill-fitting boots and gloves'. Their mother 'died slumped against a chain-link fence she must have thought salvation lay behind', Mr McBride wrote.
A nearby weather station recorded the wind chill that morning at minus 38°C.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Zawya
an hour ago
- Zawya
Global economy's 'sugar rush' defies trade drama
FRANKFURT - For all the drama surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs, the world economy is holding up better than many had expected. The latest data from the United States, China and, to a lesser extent, Europe are showing resilience and the global economy as a whole is still expected to grow modestly this year. This is in part due to U.S. buyers and foreign sellers bringing forward business while many of the import duties unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump remain suspended. While that effect may prove short-lived, Trump's decision to pause tariffs and some glimpses of progress in trade talks, particularly between the United States and the European Union, have fuelled cautious optimism. "We are seeing a bit of a sugar rush in industry, with manufacturers bringing forward production and trade," said Holger Schmieding, an economist at investment bank Berenberg. "The other thing is that we have evidence that Trump pedalled back on tariffs. The bet in markets and to some extent in the economy is that he barks but doesn't bite." Investment banks and institutions generally expect the United States to avoid a recession this year and the global economy to keep growing. The International Monetary Fund downgraded its global GDP growth forecast by just 0.5 percentage points last month to 2.8%. This is roughly in line with the trend over the past decade and a far cry from the downturns experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2008 financial crisis or even the turmoil that followed the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001. No one is venturing a prediction on where the trade negotiations will eventually settle, particularly with a U.S. president who sees himself as unstoppable. This week alone, separate U.S. courts first blocked and then reinstated Trump's tariffs - creating a degree of legal uncertainty that will do little to facilitate trade deals between the United States and those threatened with the levies. While the EU celebrated "new impetus" in its trade talks with the United States, negotiations with China were "a bit stalled" according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Companies are counting the cost of the ongoing impasse. A Reuters analysis of corporate disclosures shows Trump's trade war had cost companies more than $34 billion in lost sales and higher costs, a toll that is expected to rise as ongoing uncertainty over tariffs paralyses decision making at some of the world's largest companies. Car-makers from Japan's Toyota to Germany's Porsche and Mercedes-Benz are bracing for lower, or lower-than-previously expected profits if they have not given up making predictions altogether, like Volvo Cars and Dutch-based Stellantis. This is likely to result in a hit especially for Japan. The United States is Japan's biggest export destination, accounting for 21 trillion yen ($146.16 billion) worth of goods, with automobiles representing roughly 28% of the total. "While the worst shocks may be over, there's still a lot up in the air," Xingchen Yu, a strategist at UBS's Chief Investment Office, said. "We don't really know what a new normal for tariffs would look like, unfortunately." PAYBACK But so far the global economy has held up pretty well. China's output and exports are resilient as its companies re-route trade to the United States via third countries. Even in Europe, manufacturing activity was at a 33-month high in May, rebounding from a slump induced by more expensive fuel following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Confidence was also buttressed by the prospect of greater fiscal spending in Germany, a missing ingredient for European growth for the past couple of decades. The robustness of the world economy has surprised even professional forecasters. A measure produced by U.S. bank Citi that tracks the degree to which global economic data has surprised to the upside is now at its highest in more than a year. Some of that strength circles back to the tariffs themselves and the attempts by U.S. households and businesses to front-load purchases to beat anticipated price increases later this year. U.S. imports were up around 30% in March from where they were in October. The risk to the upbeat outlook comes from the expected "payback" of those advance purchases, which are unlikely to be repeated and will mean slower activity - in the U.S. and elsewhere - later. Economists still fear a triple whammy in which the front-loaded boost to the goods sector is unwound while U.S. household purchasing power is squeezed by higher prices and companies put off investment and hiring. At the margin, however, this scenario is starting to appear a little less likely after Trump's pause on tariffs. "The balance has slightly shifted towards more optimism, albeit with uncertainty and volatility," ING's global head of macro Carsten Brzeski said. ($1 = 143.6800 yen) (Additional reporting by Dan Burns in Washington, Claire Fu in Singapore, Ellen Zhang in Beijing and Leika Kihara in Tokyo; Editing by Mark John and Jane Merriman)
Emirates 24/7
3 hours ago
- Emirates 24/7
Gold prices climb on softer dollar, Trump's fresh tariff threat
Gold Prices Rise as Trump Threatens Tariff Hike; Weaker Dollar Lends Support Gold prices climbed on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, while a weaker dollar also supported greenback-priced bullion. FUNDAMENTALS Spot gold was up 0.6% at $3,309.89 an ounce, as of 0056 GMT. U.S. gold futures also climbed 0.6% to $3,333.30. The U.S. dollar index edged 0.1% lower, making bullion less expensive for overseas buyers. Trump said on Friday that he plans to raise tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50% from 25%, prompting the European Commission to warn that Europe is prepared to retaliate. Geopolitical tensions escalated as Ukraine and Russia sharply ramped up the war with one of the biggest drone battles of their conflict, a Russian highway bridge blown up over a passenger train and an ambitious attack on nuclear-capable bombers deep in Siberia. Gold is considered a safe-haven asset during geopolitical and economic uncertainty. Meanwhile, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to speak soon to iron out trade issues, including a dispute over critical minerals, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday. On Friday, the U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index saw a year-on-year increase of 2.1% in April, versus a 2.2% forecast. Investors now see a 50-basis-point rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve this year, starting in October. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said that interest rate cuts remain possible later this year, even as the Trump administration's tariff regime is likely to push up price pressures temporarily. Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.2% to $33.04 an ounce, platinum was down 0.2% at $1,054.28, and palladium was steady at $970.79. DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0600 – Nationwide House Price MM, YY 0750 – HCOB Manufacturing PMI 0755 – HCOB Manufacturing PMI 0800 – HCOB Manufacturing Final PMI 0830 – S&P Global Manufacturing PMI 1345 – S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Final 1400 – ISM Manufacturing PMI Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
Khaleej Times
4 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
US: Multiple people injured in Colorado attack; male suspect in custody
Police said a male suspect was taken into custody on Sunday after an attack that injured multiple people in Boulder, Colorado, in what the FBI director described as a "targeted" act of terror. Information on the attack, which occurred near a walk to remember the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza, was 'very preliminary", Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said. But he noted the man was apprehended following calls to police dispatch of someone with a weapon who was 'setting people on fire". While FBI Director Kash Patel described the incident as a "targeted terror attack", Redfearn stressed it was too soon to speculate about a motive. 'We are not calling it a terror attack at this moment,' Redfearn said. 'This was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in downtown Boulder on Pearl Street and this act was unacceptable,' he said. 'I ask that you join me in thinking about the victims, the families of those victims, and everyone involved in this tragedy.' He said some of the victims' injuries were consistent with burns. The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the United States over Israel's war in Gaza, which has spurred both an increase in antisemitic hate crime as well as moves by conservative supporters of Israel led by President Donald Trump to brand pro-Palestinian protests as antisemitic. His administration has detained protesters of the war without charge and cut off funding to elite US universities that have permitted such demonstrations. The attack follows the arrest of a Chicago-born man in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, D.C. Someone opened fire on a group of people leaving an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel. The shooting fuelled polarisation in the United States over the war in Gaza between supporters of Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators. "We are saddened and heartbroken to learn that an incendiary device was thrown at walkers at the Run for Their Lives walk on Pearl Street as they were raising awareness for the hostages still held in Gaza," a statement attributed to Boulder's Jewish Community said. Colorado Governor Jared Polis posted on social media that he was closely monitoring the situation, adding that "hate-filled acts of any kind are unacceptable". Redfearn said he was not able to identify the suspect yet, noting that he had been taken to hospital. He added there were multiple injuries among the victims, ranging 'from very serious to more min".
