New Delhi: Two men have been convicted in connection with a human smuggling operation that led to the deaths of an Indian family at the US-Canada border. A Minnesota jury Friday found Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel and Steve Anthony Shand guilty of all charges related to the said operation that was conducted in January 2022.
The Patel family—Jagdish, Vaishaliben, and their two small children, Vihangi and Dharmik—were found frozen in a Manitoba field, barely 12 metres from the US border. Originally from Gujarat, the family had travelled to Canada on tourist visas sponsored by another alleged smuggler, Fenil Patel. They planned to cross into the US during a blizzard, with temperatures plunging as low as minus 35 degrees Celsius. The family became separated from a larger group of 11 migrants, leaving them alone and exposed to the brutal weather.
Prosecutors revealed that the smuggling operation was part of a sophisticated international network profiting from illegal immigration. Harshkumar Patel, 29, an Indian national operating under the alias “Dirty Harry”, was identified as a key coordinator. Steve Shand, a 50-year-old from Florida, was responsible for transporting migrants once they entered the US.
During the trial, jurors were presented with text messages between the accused, discussing the freezing conditions and logistical aspects of the deadly journey. Testimonies from convicted smuggler Rajinder Pal Singh and survivor Yash Patel provided grim insights into the operation.
Singh testified that Fenil Patel had facilitated the victims’ Canadian visas, while Yash Patel described the treacherous journey through the blizzard, which left the group separated and disoriented.
Assistant US Attorney Michael McBride lambasted the defendants for prioritising profit over human lives. “While the Patels were slowly dying in the freezing cold, Steve Shand sat in his warm van and did nothing to help,” said McBride. Harshkumar Patel, who was in Florida at the time, similarly failed to intervene.
Shand’s defence team claimed he had been unwittingly drawn into the smuggling network, while Patel’s lawyers argued that he was misidentified. They contended that the alias “Dirty Harry” could refer to another individual, citing bank records and witness testimony in support of their claim.
After only a few hours of deliberation, the jury convicted the defendants of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy and human trafficking. Both men face sentences of up to 55 years in prison, to be determined at a later date.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)