Men convicted of smuggling Indian family found dead near border of Minnesota, Canada to be sentenced Wednesday [Video]

Two men will learn their future Wednesday afternoon after being convicted of human smuggling charges connected to a family of four’s death along the border of Minnesota and Canada in 2022.

Federal court records show Steve Shand of Florida and Harshkumar Ramlal Patel, an Indian national, will be sentenced Wednesday afternoon in Fergus Falls. Both men had requested a new trial, but their motion was denied.

As previously reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, Shand and Patel were convicted by a federal jury of all four counts of human smuggling in late November. The trial saw testimony from an alleged participant in the smuggling ring that prosecutors said brought Indian nationals from Canada into the U.S. The jury also heard from a survivor of the treacherous journey across the northern border, border patrol agents and forensic experts.

Prosecutors said the men were part of a sophisticated illegal operation that has been bringing increasing numbers of Indians into the …