Overview

• Judge John Tunheim sentenced Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel to 10 years and one month in prison and Steve Anthony Shand to six years and six months plus two years of supervised release.
• Evidence at trial showed Patel organized a smuggling network using fraudulent student visas to bring Indian nationals into Canada before clandestine crossings into Minnesota.
• On January 18, 2022, Shand received a blizzard warning with wind chills below −45°F yet continued to transport migrants toward his stranded van.
• Jagdish and Vaishaliben Patel and their children, Vihangi and Dharmik, died of hypothermia on January 19, 2022, when their frozen bodies were found near the Manitoba–Minnesota border.
• Defense attorneys argued Patel was misidentified as the ringleader and Shand served only as an unwitting driver, while prosecutors said both men ignored deadly conditions for financial gain.