Two men were sentenced May 28, 2025, in the District of Minnesota after being convicted at a jury trial for their roles in an international human smuggling conspiracy that resulted in the deaths of four Indian nationals, including a three-year-old and 11-year-old child, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick, May 28. The victims were Jagdish and Vaishaliben Patel, and their children, 11-year-old Vihangi and three-year-old Dharmik,
Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, was sentenced to 121 months in prison for his role in a human smuggling scheme. The Court did not impose a term of supervised release on defendant Patel, citing the likelihood that Patel will be deported following his prison sentence. Patel’s co-conspirator, Steve Anthony Shand, 50, received a sentence of 78 months followed by 2 years of supervised release.
Trial evidence showed that Patel and Shand were involved in a major human smuggling operation that brought Indian nationals into Canada using fake student visas then illegally moved them across the U.S.-Canada border.
ADVERTISEMENT
Patel handled the coordination of smuggling individuals from Manitoba into the United States, while Shand picked them up after they crossed into the U.S. and transported them to Chicago. Both men were paid for their participation and ignored the life-threatening risks posed by the frigid conditions at the northern border. Testimony revealed that the going rate to be smuggled from India to U.S. from Canada was around $100,000.
During a blizzard in January 2022, Shand and Patel, working with other co-conspirators, attempted to smuggle 11 aliens into the Unites States from Canada. Due to the storm conditions that night, Shand’s van got stuck in the snow. That turn of events forced the aliens to travel on foot for approximately seven hours in minus-36-degree wind chill and severe winter weather conditions while they searched for Shand’s vehicle. Two migrants found Shand while his van was stuck; the rest did not.
A passerby pulled Shand’s van from the ditch. Soon thereafter, a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent arrived and suspected alien smuggling. Eventually, five additional aliens were located, one of whom was suffering from hypothermia so severe she had to be airlifted to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Meanwhile, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police located the bodies of a family of four, two adults and two young children, who had separated from the larger group during the night. The family died of hypothermia. The father was found still holding his infant child wrapped in a blanket. None of the 11 migrants was dressed appropriately for the severe, cold weather conditions.
In November 2024, a federal jury found both defendants guilty of multiple charges, including conspiracy to bring aliens to the Unites States causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy, conspiracy to transport aliens within the Unites States causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy, attempted transportation of aliens for commercial advantage or private financial gain, and aiding and abetting the attempted transportation of aliens.
“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,” Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick, is quoted saying in the press release, calling the crime “unspeakable”.
In imposing the sentence, U.S. District Court Judge John R. Tunheim explained that “Border smuggling is a very serious problem,” one that “exploits victims.” He noted that the night this family died was one “one of the coldest nights of the winter” and that these were “very dangerous conditions.” Judge Tunheim said that the defendants “could have done something” and it “might have made a difference”—but they did nothing.