A prosecution spokesperson says two men have been convicted of charges related to human smuggling after an Indian family froze to death at the Canada-U.S. border. Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel and Steve Shand each faced four charges related to human smuggling before being convicted Friday. Patel is an Indian national. Shand is an American from Florida. They were arrested after the family froze while trying to cross the desolate border during a 2022 blizzard. The charges were related to their roles in what prosecutors called a sophisticated human smuggling operation that has been bringing increasing numbers of Indians into the U.S.
