Two defendants pleaded not guilty in federal court Wednesday to their alleged role in smuggling a group of undocumented Indian nationals over the Canadian border during a blizzard, resulting in a family of four freezing to death in January 2022.
Two men plead not guilty for alleged role in freezing deaths of Indian family at border
The pair are accused of conspiring to transport undocumented immigrants into the U.S.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 27, 2024 at 7:43PM
Authorities allege defendants Harshkumar Patel and Steve Shand met at a casino near Orlando, Fla. According to charging documents, Patel allegedly hired Shand to illegally transport unauthorized immigrants over the Minnesota-Canada border. The immigrants had arrived from Patel’s native Indian state of Gujarat.
The deaths of Jagdish Patel, 39, Vaishaliben Patel, 37, and their two children Vihangi, 11, and Dharmik, 3, spurred sprawling investigations into the illicit immigration pipeline to the United States from their home state in western India. Authorities discovered the four bodies frozen in Emerson, Manitoba, and found five other Indian immigrants on foot and two more in a van driven by Shand in a rural area between Lancaster, Minn., and Pembina, N.D..
A federal grand jury indicted the pair last week on charges of conspiring to transport undocumented immigrants to the United States, causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy, and aiding their journey for private financial gain. Court documents allege that Patel paid Shand $25,000 for bringing five loads of the Indian nationals to Chicago.
The men appeared remotely on Zoom for a brief arraignment Wednesday. Patel is now detained in Douglas County, Minn., after being arrested last month in Chicago, while Shand is out on bail.
These Minnesotans are poised to play prominent roles in state and national politics in the coming years.
