Indian man among two convicted for death of Gujarati family trying to illegally enter US
Two people, including an Indian and an American, have been convicted in the US for their roles in a failed human smuggling attempt that resulted in the death of a four-member family from Gujarat in 2022. Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel and Steve Shand were found guilty by a jury in Minnesota for the deaths of Jagdish Patel, his wife Vaishaliben, their daughter Vihangi, and son Dharmik, who froze to death during a blizzard while attempting to enter the US illegally through the border with Canada.
Part of human trafficking network?
According to prosecutors, 29-year-old Patel, who went by the alias ˇ°Dirty Harry,ˇ± and Shand, a 50-year-old from Florida, were part of a sophisticated illegal operation that had facilitated the entry of increasing numbers of Indians into the US.
The two men, convicted on four counts related to human smuggling, including conspiracy to bring migrants into the country illegally, could face maximum sentences of up to 20 years for the first two counts, 10 years for the third, and five years for the fourth.
Also read: Indian Family Of Four, Including A Baby, Freeze To Death At US-Canada Border
Accused was to smuggle 11 Indians into US?
According to prosecutors, in January 2022, Patel had coordinated the operation, while Shand was the driver designated to pick up 11 Indian migrants on the Minnesota side of the border. However, only seven of them survived the harsh blizzard conditions, where temperatures had dropped to -33 degrees Celsius. The frozen bodies of the Patel family were later discovered by Canadian authorities on their side of the border.
Human trafficking network member speaks up
Prosecutors also produced an Indian-origin man, Rajinder Singh, who testified that he had made over $400,000 smuggling more than 500 people through the same network that included Patel and Shand. According to him, most of the people he smuggled came from Gujarat. He said the migrants would often pay smugglers about $100,000 to get them from India to the US.
Also read:?Indian Woman Arrested At US-Canada Border May Need Partial Hand Amputation Due To Frostbite
The death of the Patel family sent shockwaves across the US, Canada, and India. The tragedy also exposed the lengths to which some Indians would go to fulfil their American dream.
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