FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (KVRR/AP) — The convicted ringleader of an international human smuggling plot and one of his drivers is sentenced in federal court in Fergus Falls. Harshkumar Patel was sentenced to 10 years in prison and Steve Shand to 6 1/2 years. The two men were tried and convicted on four counts apiece last November. Their sentencing comes more…
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) — An Indian national who survived a treacherous trek across the U.S.-Canada border in blizzard conditions testified Wednesday that he got separated from a family of four shortly before they froze to death. Yash Patel took the stand on the third day of the trial of Indian national Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, and Steve Shand, 50, of Florida. Prosecutors…
This combination image shows left to right; undated photo released by the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office shows Harshkumar Patel in Elk River, Minn., and undated photo released by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows Steve Shand. (AP Photo)FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) — A man convicted of human smuggling testified Tuesday that he shuttled more than 500 Indian migrants across…
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (KVRR) — Prosecutors say Harshkumar Patel and Steve Shand put financial profit over human life when they attempted to smuggle migrants from India across the U.S.-Canada border into Minnesota over five weeks. Daryl Ritchison, a climatologist and director of the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network, testified that temperatures were abnormally cold that January morning with wind chills…
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (KVRR) — It was a packed house at the courthouse full of people waiting for the jury selection. The case, for two men accused of being part of a criminal network that stretched around the world. Federal prosecutors say Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel and Steve Shand were part of an operation that scouted clients in India arranging visas,…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A man accused of helping smuggle people across the U.S.-Canada border into Minnesota, including four members of an Indian family who froze to death in 2022, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to seven counts of human smuggling. Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 28, who prosecutors say went by the alias “Dirty Harry,” entered his plea during a brief…
