Latest news with #SteveAnthonyShand
Deccan Herald
3 days ago
- Deccan Herald
2 human traffickers get jail terms for Indian family's death at US-Canada border
Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, and his co-conspirator Steve Anthony Shand, 50, were part of a large-scale human-smuggling operation that brought Indian nationals to Canada on fraudulent student visas and then smuggled them into the US across the northern border.
Free Malaysia Today
3 days ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Smugglers jailed for leaving Indian family to die in blizzard
The family of four was not found until the Royal Canadian Mounted Police discovered their frozen bodies. (Getty Images/AFP pic) WASHINGTON : Two human traffickers were sentenced today for their roles in a smuggling operation that resulted in the 2022 deaths of four Indian nationals, including a three-year-old and an 11-year-old, the US department of justice said. Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, was sentenced to over 10 years in prison for organising logistics and co-conspirator Steve Anthony Shand, 50, was sentenced to over six years for picking up migrants in the US. A jury convicted the duo for their work in a 'large-scale human smuggling operation that brought Indian nationals to Canada on fraudulent student visas and then smuggled them into the US', justice officials said. In January 2022, amid severe weather, Patel and Shand attempted to smuggle 11 Indian nationals from Canada into the US on foot, the DOJ said, adding the recorded wind chill temperature was -37.8°C. A US border patrol agent found Shand's van stuck in the Minnesota snow, where Shand claimed there were no other people stranded out in the cold. But five more people emerged from the fields, including one who was airlifted to a hospital for lifesaving care. Shand was arrested along with two migrants. But the family of four was not found until the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found their frozen bodies in an isolated area in Canada. 'The boy was wrapped in a blanket with his father's frozen glove covering his face,' the DOJ said. 'Every time I think about this case I think about this family – including two beautiful little children – who the defendants left to freeze to death in a blizzard,' said acting US attorney Lisa D Kirkpatrick.
The National
4 days ago
- General
- The National
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.
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
Ringleader gets 10 years after Indian family froze to death on US-Canada border
More than three years after a family of four from India froze to death while trying to enter the US along a remote stretch of the Canadian border in a blizzard, the convicted ringleader of an international human smuggling plot was sentenced in Minnesota on Wednesday to 10 years in prison. 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, who got 6½ 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 argued he was no more than a 'low man on the totem pole'. He asked for 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.
Toronto Star
4 days ago
- Toronto Star
Head of human smuggling plot gets 10 years after family of 4 froze to death on US-Canada border
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 convicted ringleader of an international human smuggling plot was sentenced in Minnesota on Wednesday to 10 years in prison. 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.
