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…
(UPDATE 4PM) Steve Anthony Shand, got 6 1/2 years Wednesday with two years’ supervised release. 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 alleged ringleader of an international human smuggling plot was sentenced…
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)MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday rejected requests for new trials for two men convicted on human smuggling charges in the deaths…
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 Florida man charged with human smuggling after four migrants were found dead last year near the Canadian border has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges. Court records show that Steve Shand, of Deltona, Florida, entered the plea Friday in a hearing for his arraignment held via video conference. Federal authorities arrested Shand in…
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Florida man will stand trial in Minnesota this summer on human smuggling charges following his January arrest after authorities just across the Canadian border found four migrants who had frozen to death during a blizzard. Court documents filed Wednesday show that U.S. District Judge John Tunheim scheduled Steve Shand’s trial to begin July 18. The…
FARGO (KVRR) – A Florida man tied to the deaths of four people near the Minnesota-Canada border has been indicted by a federal grand jury. Forty-seven-year-old Steve Shand is indicted on two counts of human smuggling. According to court documents, Shand was stopped on January 19 in a rural area between Lancaster, Minnesota and Pembina, North Dakota driving a passenger…
