Human smugglers who killed Indian family near US-Canada border captured in Minnesota sanctuary state

10

ST. PAUL, MN — Two men were sentenced Friday in federal court for their roles in a human smuggling conspiracy that led to the deaths of four Indian nationals, including two children, during a failed border crossing in January 2022.

Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, an Indian national formerly of Florida, received a 10-year and one-month prison sentence and will be deported following his incarceration. Co-conspirator Steve Anthony Shand, 50, also of Florida, was sentenced to six years and six months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

According to evidence presented at trial in the District of Minnesota, Patel and Shand were part of an international smuggling operation that funneled Indian nationals into Canada using fraudulent student visas, then…