Head of human smuggling plot gets 10 years after family of 4 froze to death on US-Canada border

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) — More than three years after a family of four from India froze to death while trying to enter the U.S. along a remote stretch of the Canadian border in a blizzard, the convicted ringleader of an international human smuggling plot was sentenced in Minnesota on Wednesday to 10 years in prison.

Federal prosecutors had recommended nearly 20 years for Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, and nearly 11 years for the driver who was supposed to pick them up, Steve Anthony Shand, who got 6 1/2 years Wednesday with two years' supervised release.

“The crime in many respects is extraordinary because it did result in the unimaginable death of four individuals, including two children,” U.S. District Judge John Tunheim said. “These were deaths that were clearly avoidable.”

Patel's attorney, Thomas Leinenweber, told the court before sentencing that Patel maintains his innocence and argued he was no more than a “low man on the totem pole.” He asked for time served, 18 months.

But the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Lisa Kirkpatrick, said Patel exploited the migrants’ hopes for a better life in America, out of his own greed.

“We should make no mistake, it was the defendant’s greed that set in motion the facts that bring us here today,” she said.

Patel, in an orange uniform and handcuffed, declined to address the court. He showed no visible emotion as the sentence was issued. The judge noted that he is likely to be deported to his native India after completing his sentence. He cooperated as marshals handcuffed him and led him from the courtroom.

Shand, who had been free pending sentencing, showed no visible reaction to his own sentence, either. The judge ordered him to report to prison July 1 and agreed to recommend that he serve his sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Pensacola, Florida, where he can be near his family.

The judge handed down the sentences at the federal courthouse in the northwestern Minnesota city of Fergus Falls, where the two men were tried and convicted on four counts apiece last November.

Prosecutors said during the trial that Patel, an Indian national who they say went by the alias “Dirty Harry,” and Shand, a U.S. citizen, were part of a sophisticated illegal operation that brought dozens of people from India to Canada on student visas and then smuggled them across the U.S. border.

They said the victims, Jagdish Patel, 39; his wife, Vaishaliben, who was in her mid-30s; their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi; and 3-year-old son, Dharmik, froze to death. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police found their bodies just north of the border between Manitoba and Minnesota on Jan. 19, 2022.

The family was from Dingucha, a village in the western Indian state of Gujarat, as was Harshkumar Patel. Patel is a common Indian surname, and the victims were not related to the defendant. The couple were schoolteachers, local news reports said. So many villagers have gone overseas in hopes of better lives — legally and otherwise — that many homes there stand vacant.

The father died while trying to shield Dharmik's face from a “blistering wind” with a frozen glove, prosecutor Michael McBride wrote. Vihangi was wearing “ill-fitting boots and gloves.” Their mother “died slumped against a chain-link fence she must have thought salvation lay behind,” McBride wrote.

A nearby weather station recorded the wind chill that morning at -36 Fahrenheit (-38 Celsius).

Seven other members of their group survived the foot crossing, but only two made it to Shand's van, which was stuck in the snow on the Minnesota side. One woman who survived had to be flown to a hospital with severe frostbite and hypothermia. Another survivor testified he had never seen snow before arriving in Canada.

Kirkpatrick told reporters after Wednesday's hearing that as a lifelong Minnesotan, she would not have gone out in that weather. “But the defendants sent into that weather 11 migrants — Indian nationals who were not dressed appropriately, were ill-prepared for the weather they faced that night,” she said.

Kirkpatrick pointed out that the family who died had walked for hours trying to find Shand, who had been sent by Patel.

“These defendants knew it was cold. In fact, they knew it was life-threatening cold,” she said. "They didn’t care. What they cared about was money, and their callous indifference to the value of human life cost a family of four their lives.”

Patel's attorney, Leinenweber, said his client will appeal but declined to speculate on what grounds.

“He had kind of resigned himself to the fact that the sentence would be longer than he had hoped,” the attorney said. “And he’s not happy with it. But he does wish to appeal and take advantage of his rights.”

Shand's attorney, federal defender Aaron Morrison, did not talk to reporters afterward.

Morrison acknowledged in a presentencing filing that Shand has “a level of culpability” but argued that his role was limited — that he was just a taxi driver who needed money to support his wife and six children.

“Mr. Shand was on the outside of the conspiracy, he did not plan the smuggling operation, he did not have decision making authority, and he did not reap the huge financial benefits as the real conspirators did,” Morrison wrote.

A top regional U.S. Customs and Border Protection official told reporters Wednesday that human smuggling along the border in the area has been holding “fairly steady,” with no sharp increases or decreases.

“We hope that this is a strong message, and especially during the inclement months," said Michael Hanson, the acting chief patrol agent for the Grand Forks, North Dakota, sector, which covers North Dakota and Minnesota. "You know, there very well could have been 11 deaths associated with this event.”

A herd of cows roam outside Dingucha village from where Jagdish Patel and his family hailed and were killed while crossing the Canada-US border, in the Indian state of Gujarat, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick spoke to reporters following the sentencing of Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel and Steve Anthony Shand, who were convicted on human smuggling charge related to the 2022 deaths of an Indian family who froze while crossing into the U.S. from Canada, on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Fergus Falls, Minn. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)

Steve Anthony Shand Leaves court after being sentenced on human smuggling charges Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Fergus Falls, Minn., related to the 2022 deaths of an Indian family who froze while crossing the Canadian Border into the U.S. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)

FILE - A statue of Monkey God Hanuman, installed as part of a religious celebrations, is seen in front of an entrance gate of Dingucha village in Gandhinagar, India, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)

FILE - An aerial view of Dingucha village in Gandhinagar, India, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)

FILE - Road signage is posted just outside of Emerson, Manitoba, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - A border marker, between the United States and Canada is shown just outside of Emerson, Manitoba, on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

The economy, inflation and how those forces could impact the lives of Americans were front and center over the past week. Trips to the grocery store or gas station are more painful than they were last year, and that is impacting the decisions of both households and businesses.

Here’s a snapshot of prominent economic data and news that occurred over the past week and what it potentially means for you.

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to its highest level in nearly nine months, driving up borrowing costs for homebuyers during what’s traditionally the housing market’s busiest time of the year.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.51% from 6.36% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. Despite the sharp increase, the average rate remains below 6.86%, where it was a year ago.

Rates have been mostly trending higher since the war with Iran began. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has roiled energy markets, sending crude oil prices sharply higher — a key driver of inflation.

Expectations of higher oil prices and worries about big and growing debts for the U.S. government and others have pushed up long-term bond yields, causing mortgage rates to head higher.

U.S. retailers have spent months navigating an uncertain economic environment, from President Donald Trump’s tariffs to the impact of soaring gasoline prices due to the Iran war. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline rose again this week, ending at about $4.55 per gallon on Friday, according to AAA. Gasoline prices are about 45% above where they were at this time last year.

Based on quarterly financial reports from Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s and TJX, shoppers are cautious but still spending, helped by more generous tax refunds. Yet there is a widespread belief among economists that once those refunds dry up, shoppers will pull back on spending. Consumer spending is the dominant economic engine for the U.S., and retreat would have broad implications for the U.S.

Walmart issued a forecast for the current quarter on Thursday that was weaker than what Wall Street had been expecting. Target raised its annual revenue outlook on Wednesday, saying it expected momentum to continue the rest of the year. Yet the upgraded sales expectations were still below the pace of the first quarter.

Fewer Americans filed for jobless aid last week as layoffs remain low despite a number of uncertainties that continue to cloud the economy.

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 16 fell by 3,000 to 209,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 213,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet had forecast.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

Despite historically low layoffs, the labor market appears to be stuck in what economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” state. That’s kept the unemployment rate low at 4.3%, but left many of those out of work struggling to find new employment.

The split between Wall Street and most U.S. households grew even wider Friday, as U.S. stocks rose toward the finish of an eighth straight winning week, their longest such streak since 2023. That’s even though a survey showed on the same day that U.S. consumers are feeling worse about the economy.

Shares of Workday and Zoom Communications rose after both delivered better profit reports for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

They’re the latest companies to top analysts’ expectations for profits for the start of 2026. And the cavalcade of such reports has helped U.S. stocks remain near their records. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term.

A hiring sign is displayed at a restaurant in Niles, Ill., Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Drones operated by Zipline leave base to make deliveries from a Walmart store in Pea Ridge, Ark., Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Options trader Anthony Spina works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Robert Arciero works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)