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ABC News
6 days ago
- General
- ABC News
People smuggler jailed after Indian family freeze to death on US-Canada border
A man convicted of leading an international human smuggling plot that resulted in a family of four from India freezing to death while trying to cross the United States border from Canada has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Federal prosecutors in the US state of Minnesota had recommended a sentence of almost 20 years for Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, and nearly 11 years for Steve Anthony Shand — the driver who was supposed to pick the family up. Shand was sentenced on Wednesday at the federal courthouse in the north-western Minnesota city of Fergus Falls to six and a half years, with two years of supervised release. During a trial conducted in November prosecutors said Patel, an Indian national who they say went by the alias "Dirty Harry", and Shand, a US citizen, 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 border. The victims, 39-year-old Jagdish Patel, his wife Vaishaliben, their 11-year-old daughter Vihangi and three-year-old son Dharmik, froze to death, prosecutors told the court. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police found their bodies just north of the border between Manitoba and Minnesota on January 19, 2022. The trial heard from prosecutor Michael McBride that the father died while trying to shield Dharmik's face from a "blistering wind" with a frozen glove. Vihangi was wearing "ill-fitting boots and gloves", while their mother "died slumped against a chain-link fence [and] she must have thought salvation lay behind", Mr McBride wrote. A nearby weather station recorded the wind chill that morning at -38 degrees Celsius. 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. The family of four 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 school teachers, according to local news reports. "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. Patel's attorney, Thomas Leinenweber, told the court before sentencing that Patel maintained his innocence and argued he was no more than a "low man on the totem pole". Mr Leinenweber urged to the court to consider an 18-month jail term, given Patel's time already served behind bars. The acting US attorney for Minnesota, Lisa Kirkpatrick, said Patel exploited the migrants' hopes for a better life in America. "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, in an orange uniform and handcuffed, declined to address the court. He showed no visible emotion as the sentence was issued. The judge noted that he was likely to be deported to his native India after completing his sentence. He cooperated as marshals handcuffed him and led him from the courtroom. Shand, who had been free pending sentencing, also showed no visible reaction to his own sentence. The judge ordered him 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. Ms Kirkpatrick told reporters after the sentencing hearing on Wednesday that as a lifelong Minnesotan, she would not have gone out in the weather endured by the Patel family. "But the defendants sent into that weather 11 migrants — Indian nationals who were not dressed appropriately — were ill-prepared for the weather they faced that night," she said. The prosecutor also pointed out that the family died after walking for hours trying to find Shand, who Patel had sent. "These defendants knew it was cold. In fact, they knew it was life-threatening cold," she said. "They didn't care. Harshkumar Patel's attorney said his client would lodge an appeal but declined to speculate on what grounds. "He had kind of resigned himself to the fact that the sentence would be longer than he had hoped," Mr Leinenweber said. "And he's not happy with it. But he does wish to appeal and take advantage of his rights." Shand's attorney, federal defender Aaron Morrison, did not talk to reporters after the sentencing hearing. Mr Morrison acknowledged in a pre-sentencing filing that Shand had "a level of culpability" but argued that his role was limited because 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," Mr Morrison wrote at the time. A top regional US Customs and Border Protection official told reporters on Wednesday that human smuggling along the border in the area had been "fairly steady," with no sharp increases or decreases. "We hope that this is a strong message, and especially during the inclement months," Michael Hanson, the acting chief patrol agent for the Grand Forks, North Dakota, sector covering North Dakota and Minnesota, said. AP
Arab News
6 days ago
- General
- Arab News
Convicted head of human smuggling plot gets 10 years after Indian family dies on US-Canada border
MINNESOTTA, USA: 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 alleged 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. The two men appeared before US District Judge John Tunheim, who declined last month to set aside the guilty verdicts, writing, 'This was not a close case.' The judge handed down the sentences 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. Prosecutors said during the trial that Patel, an Indian national who they say went by the alias 'Dirty Harry,' and Shand, a US 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 US 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. 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 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). 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. '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. 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.' Patel's attorneys, who have argued that the evidence was insufficient, 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.
CBC
15-05-2025
- CBC
Prosecutors want 19-year and 10-year sentences for men convicted after family froze at Manitoba border
U.S. attorneys have filed sentencing submissions for two men convicted after a family froze to death while trying to walk across the Canada-U.S. border in Manitoba. A Minnesota jury found Steve Shand and Harshkumar Patel guilty of human-smuggling charges after the parents and two children from India were found in the snow in January 2022. The attorneys say in court documents that Patel is not remorseful and they're requesting he be sentenced to a little more than 19 years in prison. They also say Shand should be handed 10 years for conspiring with Patel to smuggle migrants into the United States at least five times through brutal winter conditions. Shand's lawyer, Aaron Morrison, says in a document that proposed sentence is "unduly punitive" and he's requesting a little more than two years in prison. A defence lawyer did not provide a document outlining a recommendation for Patel. They were convicted last November in the January 2022 deaths of the Patel family (who were not related to Harshkumar Patel). The frozen bodies of Jagdish Patel, 39, his wife, Vaishali, 37, their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi, and their three-year-old son, Dharmik, were found in a snow-drifted Manitoba field just 12 metres from the U.S. border later on the morning of Jan. 19, 2022. The temperature that day was –23 C, but the wind chill made it feel like the –35 to –38 range. Shand was arrested near the border around the same time with other Indian nationals in the van he was driving. Harshkumar Patel was arrested in Chicago in February 2024 on charges of co-ordinating the smuggling and hiring Shand. The men are set to be sentenced May 28.
