Latest news with #SherburneCountySheriff'sOffice
Toronto Sun
28-05-2025
- Toronto Sun
Convicted head of human smuggling plot gets 10 years after Indian family dies on border
Published May 28, 2025 • 4 minute read This combination image shows left to right; undated photo released by the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office shows Harshkumar Patel in Elk River, Minn., and undated photo released by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows Steve Shand. (AP Photo) FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) — More than three years after a family of four from India froze to death while trying to enter the U.S. along a remote stretch of the Canadian border in a blizzard, the alleged ringleader of an international human smuggling plot was sentenced in Minnesota on Wednesday to 10 years in prison. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Federal prosecutors had recommended nearly 20 years for Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, and nearly 11 years for the driver who was supposed to pick them up, Steve Anthony Shand. Shand also was to be sentenced Wednesday. 'The crime in many respects is extraordinary because it did result in the unimaginable death of four individuals, including two children,' U.S. District Judge John Tunheim said. 'These were deaths that were clearly avoidable.' Defence attorney Thomas Leinenweber told the court before sentencing that Patel maintains his innocence and argued he was no more than a 'low man on the totem pole.' He asked for time served, 18 months. Patel, in an orange uniform and handcuffed, declined to address the court. He showed no visible emotion as the 121-month sentence was issued. Patel is likely to be deported to his native India after completing his sentence. He cooperated as marshals handcuffed him and led him from the courtroom. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The judge handed down the sentence at the federal courthouse in the northwestern Minnesota city of Fergus Falls, where the two men were tried and convicted on four counts apiece last November. Tunheim declined last month to set aside the guilty verdicts, writing, 'This was not a close case.' The smuggling operation Prosecutors said during the trial that Patel, an Indian national who they say went by the alias 'Dirty Harry,' and Shand, a U.S. citizen from Florida, were part of a sophisticated illegal operation that brought dozens of people from India to Canada on student visas and then smuggled them across the U.S. border. They said the victims, Jagdish Patel, 39; his wife, Vaishaliben, who was in her mid-30s; their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi; and 3-year-old son, Dharmik, froze to death. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police found their bodies just north of the border between Manitoba and Minnesota on Jan. 19, 2022. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The family was from Dingucha, a village in the western Indian state of Gujarat, as was Harshkumar Patel. Patel is a common Indian surname, and the victims were not related to the defendant. The couple were schoolteachers, local news reports said. So many villagers have gone overseas in hopes of better lives — legally and otherwise — that many homes there stand vacant. The harsh conditions The father died while trying to shield Dharmik'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,' McBride wrote. A nearby weather station recorded the wind chill that morning at -36 Fahrenheit (-38 Celsius). This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Seven other members of their group survived the foot crossing, but only two made it to Shand's van, which was stuck in the snow on the Minnesota side. One woman who survived had to be flown to a hospital with severe frostbite and hypothermia. Another survivor testified he had never seen snow before arriving in Canada. Their inadequate winter clothes were only what the smugglers provided, the survivor told the jury. What prosecutors say 'Mr. Patel has never shown an ounce of remorse. Even today, he continues to deny he is the 'Dirty Harry' that worked with Mr. Shand on this smuggling venture — despite substantial evidence to the contrary and counsel for his co-defendant identifying him as such at trial,' McBride wrote. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Prosecutors asked for a sentence of 19 years and 7 months for Patel, at the top end of the recommended range under federal sentencing guidelines for his actions. They asked for Shand's sentence to be 10 years and 10 months, in the middle of his separate guidelines range. 'Even as this family wandered through the blizzard at 1:00 AM, searching for Mr. Shand's van, Mr. Shand was focused on one thing, which he texted Mr. Patel: 'we not losing any money,'' McBride wrote. 'Worse, when Customs and Border Patrol arrested Mr. Shand sitting in a mostly unoccupied 15-passenger van, he denied others were out in the snow — leaving them to freeze without aid.' What defence attorneys say Patel's attorneys did request a government-paid attorney for his planned appeal. Patel has been jailed since his arrest at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago in February 2024 and claimed in the filing to have no income and no assets. Shand has been free pending sentencing. His attorney called the government's requested sentence 'unduly punitive' and requested just 27 months. The attorney, federal defender Aaron Morrison, acknowledged that Shand has 'a level of culpability' but argued that his role was limited — that he was just a taxi driver who needed money to support his wife and six children. 'Mr. Shand was on the outside of the conspiracy, he did not plan the smuggling operation, he did not have decision making authority, and he did not reap the huge financial benefits as the real conspirators did,' Morrison wrote. Canada Canada Tennis Money News Music
Toronto Sun
28-05-2025
- Toronto Sun
Two men convicted after migrants froze to death on Canada-U.S. border face sentencing
Published May 28, 2025 • 3 minute read This combination image shows left to right; undated photo released by the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office shows Harshkumar Patel in Elk River, Minn., and undated photo released by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows Steve Shand. AP FERGUS FALLS — Two men are to be sentenced today for their role in a human smuggling operation that saw a family of four freeze to death on the Canada-U.S. border south of Winnipeg. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Harshkumar Patel and Steve Shand were convicted last fall on four charges related to bringing people illegally into the United States and transporting them. Court was told during one operation in January of 2022, a couple from India and their two children were left to walk across the border in an overnight blizzard on the bald prairie, as temperatures dropped below -20 C. Prosecutors say Patel organized the logistics while Shand would pick up migrants on the U.S. side in rented vehicles and drive them to cities such as Chicago. Prosecutors in Minnesota are seeking prison sentences of a little more than 19 years for Patel and 10 years for Shand. Shand's lawyer is seeking just over two years for his client, while Patel's lawyer has asked for a sentence below the normal guidelines due to Patel's circumstances and life history. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The men's trial last year heard they were involved in several smuggling trips between Manitoba and Minnesota in December 2021 and January 2022, in which people from India were brought to Canada on student visas then sent on foot across the border to the U.S. The trial heard details of the deadly cold faced by a group of migrants the day Shand was arrested in a van on a remote road just south of the border. The temperature was -23 C and the wind chill dipped below -35. One migrant who survived the trek testified the group was driven to an area in Manitoba near the border and told to walk in a straight line in the dark, snowy night until they came to a van on the U.S. side. They were dressed in hats, jackets, gloves and boots designed for mild weather. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The group got separated in the driving snow. Some made it to Shand's van after walking for hours, including one whose hypothermia was so bad she was flown to Minneapolis for treatment. Hours after that, the frozen bodies of Jagdish Patel, 39; his wife Vaishaliben Patel, 37; their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi; and their three-year-old son, Dharmik, were found in a field in Manitoba just metres from the border. They were dressed in jeans and light jackets, and the boy's body was still in his father's arms. Vaishaliben Patel's body was found away from the rest of the family, up against a chain-link fence near an unmanned natural gas facility. Prosecutors said it appears she had left her family to try to find help at the only building in sight that night. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Patel is a common name in India, and the family was not related to the accused. Shand's lawyers said he was simply a taxi driver who was offered money by Harshkumar Patel to pick people up in different locations and was unaware he was doing anything wrong until the day of his arrest. Patel's lawyers said their client was misidentified. Patel was only arrested last year, and his lawyers said that, unlike Shand, there is no evidence he was near the border. A jury found the men guilty on all the charges they faced. After the verdict, U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said it was a case of 'unthinkable cruelty' in which the men valued money more than people's lives. 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Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Yahoo
Anoka County Jail inmate collapses, dies
A man 'being attended to' by detention staff at the Anoka County Jail collapsed and died early Monday, the sheriff's office said Tuesday in a statement. Life-saving measures were administered after the man collapsed just before 12:30 a.m., and Allina paramedics were dispatched to the jail. He died at the scene. The sheriff's office did not release his name Tuesday, nor provide additional information. His death is being investigated by the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office and the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office. 'Providing care and supervision to all those legally confined to our jail is a responsibility I view of paramount importance,' Anoka County Sheriff Brad Wise said in the statement. 'Any death that occurs in the facility brings deep impacts to the individual's family, friends, those housed with them and detention staff. Anoka County Jail staff and I will continue our commitment to identify and implement solutions to help achieve our goal, which is the health and wellbeing of those in our facility.' 'Just too trusting': North metro woman shares bank scam story in hopes of sparing others Meet the St. Paul-based team trying to get ahead of school shootings and workplace violence Delta plane from MSP that flipped in Toronto showed high rate of descent, initial report says U.S. 52 in Rosemount partially reopen after Pine Bend Refinery propane pipeline leak Burnsville man killed in weekend crash on Interstate 35E is identified
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Yahoo
Motorcyclist killed in crash while allegedly fleeing police ID'd as high schooler
The motorcyclist killed when he rear-ended a pickup truck while allegedly fleeing police has been identified as an 18-year-old from Big Lake. The Minnesota State Patrol says Deke Sibley died at the scene following the collision at around 11:15 p.m. Monday. Sibley was a senior at Monticello High School. According to the crash report, Sherburne County Sheriff's Office was attempting to stop Sibley's motorcycle "for a traffic violation" when he crashed into an eastbound Chevy Silverado on Highway 10 in Becker Township. The driver of the Chevy, a 75-year-old Minneapolis man, suffered minor injuries in the collision. Sibley was riding a Suzuki GSX1300 Sport at the time of the crash. Note: The details provided in this story are based on law enforcement's latest version of events, and may be subject to change.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Yahoo
18-year-old motorcyclist dies after crashing during traffic stop in Sherburne County
Authorities announced the identifies of the persons involved in a fatal crash that took place in Sherburne County Monday night. The accident reportedly took place at roughly 11:15 p.m. near the intersection of Highway 10 and 165th Avenue in Becker Township. Motorcyclist Deke Alexander Ward Sibley, 18, of Big Lake was pronounced dead at the scene. Meanwhile Douglas Laramore, 75, of Minneapolis was taken to Monticello Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. SCSU looks to sell athletic field: Want to own a piece of St. Cloud State University? Now you can A Minnesota State Patrol report alleges the "Sherburne County Sheriff's Office was attempting to stop a motorcycle for a traffic violation, (and) the motorcycle crashed into (Laramore's) 2004 Chevrolet Silverado." The motorcycle was a 2024 Suzuki GSX1300 Sport, according to law enforcement. A Minnesota State Patrol report states it is unknown if the motorcyclist was wearing a helmet, as of early Wednesday afternoon. Hungry? Check these four restaurants: The House Food and Tap opens in St. Joseph Sibley's identifying details, such as age, vehicle, gender and hometown, were initially listed as unknown by the Minnesota State Patrol. An investigation into the accident is underway. A Sherburne County Sheriff's Office spokesperson on Tuesday told the St. Cloud Times the Minnesota State Patrol is handling the investigation. The involved Sherburne County Sheriff's Office employee was not identified in the report. The St. Cloud Times reached out to Sheriff Joel Brott via email Tuesday morning and get a response. As of early Wednesday afternoon, the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office has yet to release a statement on the accident on social media or in a press release. Corey Schmidt covers politics and courts for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@ This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Big Lake teen dies after central Minnesota traffic stop crash
