Harshkumar Patel gets 10 years for role in human trafficking
- The smuggling plot led to freezing deaths of Dingucha family at US-Canada border
A U.S. federal court has sentenced 29-year-old Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, of Indian origin, to 10 years and 1 month in prison for orchestrating a human smuggling operation that caused the deaths of a Gujarati family from Dingucha. The victims—Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel (39), his wife Vaishaliben (37), and their children Vihangi (11) and Dharmik (3)—froze to death while attempting to illegally cross from Canada into the U.S. during a severe -35°C blizzard on January 19, 2022, reported gujaratsamachar.com.
US judge condemns traffickers for putting lives at risk; accomplice gets over 6 years in jail.
Federal Judge John Tunheim also sentenced Patel’s accomplice, 50-year-old Steve Anthony Shand, to 6 years and 6 months. The court strongly criticized the smugglers for endangering innocent lives, especially that of the young children. A U.S. jury had found both men guilty in November 2023. During the trial, Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick remarked emotionally, “Every time I think about this case, I think about this family — including two beautiful little children — who the defendants left to freeze to death in a blizzard.”
Seven other individuals from the group survived and were rescued by U.S. authorities. One of them, Yash Patel, testified that the group was abandoned on the Canadian side and instructed to walk blindly through snow toward a van on the U.S. side
The bodies of the deceased were later recovered on the Canadian side. Patel’s network was found to have targeted people from Gujarat who legally entered Canada, then smuggled them across the relatively less-guarded northern U.S. border.
The case sparked widespread concern about cross-border smuggling. In response to the incident and broader immigration concerns, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on Canada in February, citing its failure to curb illegal immigration.