Kamal Ghorui
Steve Shand leaving court
A man convicted in a human smuggling case linked to the deaths of an Indian family at the US-Canada border has moved an appeals court seeking to overturn his conviction and sentence, reports CBC News.Steve Shand, one of two men found guilty in 2024, has asked the court to quash the verdict and send the case back to a lower court for a retrial “and/or other appropriate proceedings”, according to a court filing submitted on Tuesday.Shand’s lawyer has argued that the traffic stop which led to his arrest by a US Border Patrol agent was unlawful. The filing claims it was a “roving patrol” stop that lacked reasonable suspicion.The appeal also challenges the sentencing, particularly the application of a “death enhancement”. The lawyer contends that Shand was “unaware of and powerless to control the [human smuggling operation] leader’s decision to cross a family with young children in the unsuitable weather conditions.”It further states that Shand did not know about the leader’s “treacherous decision to abandon the family in those same weather conditions, having falsely promised to retrieve them such that they did not even attempt to make the crossing to safety.”Shand and his co-accused, Harshkumar Patel, were convicted for their roles in a cross-border smuggling network that brought Indian migrants into the United States from Canada. Patel was identified by prosecutors as the organiser of the operation, while Shand, a Florida resident, was recruited to transport migrants after they crossed into the US.The case stems from a tragic incident in January 2022, when a family of four from Gujarat froze to death while attempting to cross the border on foot from Manitoba into Minnesota during a severe blizzard.The victims were identified as 39-year-old Jagdish Patel, his 37-year-old wife Vaishali, their 11-year-old daughter Vihangi and their three-year-old son Dharmik. Their bodies were found in a snow-covered field just 12 metres from the US border. Jagdish was found holding his young son, while the mother and daughter were discovered nearby.Temperatures that night dropped to minus 23 degrees C, with wind chill making it feel closer to minus 35 to minus 38. The family had walked for hours in deep snow with inadequate clothing.Investigators said the smuggling network charged large sums of money and targeted vulnerable migrants seeking a better life. The family had set out in darkness, hoping to reach a waiting vehicle on the US side.Shand was arrested the same night near the Minnesota border, found in a van stuck in snow along with other Indian nationals. A jury later convicted both men on multiple charges related to transporting and profiting from illegal migration. Shand was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, while Patel received a sentence of over 10 years.A judge had earlier rejected requests for acquittal or retrial in April 2025, ruling that the evidence against the two men was sufficient.
