NEW DELHI: Two men have been sentenced by a federal court in Minnesota for their roles in an international human smuggling operation that led to the deaths of four Indian nationals including a three-year-old and an 11-year-old, in January 2022.According to the US Department of Justice, 29-year-old Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, an Indian national formerly residing in Florida, received a sentence of 10 years and one month in prison. After his sentence, Patel will be deported from the United States.His co-conspirator, 50-year-old Steve Anthony Shand of Florida, was sentenced to six years and six months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.
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Prosecutors said Patel coordinated the logistics of smuggling Indian nationals from Manitoba, Canada, into the US, working with a broader network of co-conspirators. Shand, meanwhile, picked up the migrants after they crossed into the US and transported them to Chicago. Both men were paid for their roles and ignored the severe risks posed by winter conditions along the northern border. Evidence presented at trial revealed the going rate for smuggling someone from India through Canada into the US was approximately $100,000.“Patel and Shand endangered thousands of lives for their personal enrichment and are responsible for the deaths of two small children who froze to death on their watch,” said Matthew R Galeotti, head of the Justice department’s criminal division.“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,” said acting US Attorney Lisa D Kirkpatrick for the district of Minnesota.The convictions came after a jury trial that found both men guilty of participating in a smuggling network that illegally transported Indian nationals across the US-Canada border under dangerous conditions. The operation ended in tragedy when four members of a family, including two young children, were found frozen to death near the border in Manitoba, Canada, while attempting to cross into the US.