Jury convicts men of human smuggling in case of frozen migrant family in Manitoba

By Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press on November 22, 2024.

Jagdish Patel, 39; his wife Vaishaliben Patel, 37; their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi; and their three-year-old son, Dharmik, are shown in a handout photo. A jury has started deliberating in the trial of two men accused of human smuggling at the border between Manitoba and Minnesota. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Amritbhai Vakil **MANDATORY CREDIT**

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. – A jury has found two men guilty on all charges related to human smuggling in a case where a family from India froze to death in Manitoba while trying to walk across the Canada-U. S. border.

Steve Shand and Harshkumar Patel have each been convicted on four counts, including conspiracy to bring aliens into the U.S.

The prosecution argued the two men were part of a smuggling ring that saw Indian nationals brought to Canada then sent walking across the border into the U.S.

During one trip in 2022, a couple and their two children died while attempting to cross a remote stretch of the border in a blizzard.

Shand’s lawyer had told the trial that Shand simply picked up people and transported them within the U.S. and was unaware he was doing anything illegal.

Patel’s lawyer argued the prosecution misidentified him and he’s not the same man whose text messages about organizing border crossings were caught by law enforcement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2024.