Steve Shand and Harshkumar Patel. (Facebook, Sherburne County Sheriff)
Fergus Falls, MN – Two human smugglers are headed to federal prison for the deaths of four Indian nationals along the Minnesota/Canada border in January of 2022.
Prosecutors say Harshkumar Patel from India was sentenced to more than ten years Wednesday and Steve Shand of Florida received a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence.
A family of four that included a three-year-old and 11-year-old child froze to death trying to cross the border during a blizzard. Shand was supposed to pick them up but his van broke down in the snow. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police found the bodies of the four victims.
Patel will likely be deported after serving his sentence.
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