New Delhi: Two men, including an Indian national, were sentenced to prison for their roles in the 2022 human smuggling case in which a family of four Indians died while trying to cross over into the US on foot from Canada in a blizzard.
Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison, the US Department of Justice announced Wednesday, adding that he will be deported following the completion of his sentence.
His co-conspirator, 50-year-old Steve Anthony Shand of Florida, received a sentence of six years and six months, followed by two years of supervised release.
The case involves the smuggling of an Indian family attempting to cross into the US during a severe blizzard and had journeyed from a village in Gujarat to Toronto. Canadian officials had found the bodies of Jagdish Patel, 39, his wife Vaishaliben, 37, and their two children— 11-year-old Vihangi and three-year-old Dharmik—were found in a field in Manitoba, just 12 meters from the US border in January 2022.
According to court evidence, Patel and Shand were part of a transnational human smuggling ring that brought the Indian nationals into Canada on fraudulent student visas and then illegally transported them across the northern US border.
Patel coordinated the movement of migrants from Manitoba, Canada, while Shand was responsible for collecting them inside the US and transporting them to Chicago. Authorities said migrants paid as much as $100,000 to be smuggled from India through Canada into the US.
On 18–19 January, 2022, amid extreme winter conditions and despite multiple weather alerts, Patel and Shand attempted to smuggle 11 Indian nationals across the snow-covered border on foot.
The US Border Patrol arrested Shand after his van got stuck in the snow near the border. He was apprehended along with two migrants inside the vehicle. While he initially denied that others were involved, five more migrants were later found, including one suffering from life-threatening hypothermia.
Later that same day, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) found the frozen bodies of the Indian couple and their two children on the Canadian side of the border.
According to trial testimony, Shand received a blizzard warning on his phone from Patel just hours before the fatal crossing. Despite the obvious danger, they proceeded with the smuggling operation.
In November 2024, both Patel and Shand were convicted by a federal jury of multiple charges, including conspiracy to bring and transport undocumented immigrants causing serious injury and endangering lives, attempted transportation for profit, and aiding and abetting.
“Patel and Shand endangered thousands of lives for their personal enrichment and are responsible for the deaths of two small children who froze to death on their watch. This case demonstrates the grave danger associated with human smuggling operations,” said Matthew R. Galeotti of the US Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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