FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) — An Indian migrant who survived a lethal trek throughout the Canada-U.S. border in blizzard situations is predicted to testify Tuesday within the federal trial of two males accused of collaborating in a sprawling human smuggling scheme that in the end killed a household of 4.
Prosecutors allege Indian nationwide Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, and 50-year-old Steve Shand put monetary revenue over human life after they tried to smuggle Indian migrants throughout the border into Minnesota over a five-week interval. They are saying Patel ran a part of the smuggling scheme and recruited 50-year-old Shand as a driver. Each males have pleaded not responsible to 4 federal counts associated to human smuggling.
Prosecutors say the household of 4 — 39-year-old Jagdish Patel; his spouse, Vaishaliben, who was in her mid-30s; their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi; and 3-year-old son, Dharmik — froze to demise on Jan. 19, 2022, after spending hours wandering in heavy snow and bone-chilling chilly. Shand had been ready in a truck for 11 migrants, together with the household from Gujarat state, because the wind chill reached minus 36 levels Fahrenheit (minus 38 levels Celsius).
The witness anticipated to testify on Tuesday, Yash Patel, is one among two individuals who managed to succeed in Shand on the opposite facet of the border. He was arrested together with Shand after a border patrol officer pulled them over earlier than they may escape, prosecutors mentioned.
Patel is a standard Indian surname and the victims weren’t associated to Harshkumar Patel.
Shand and Harshkumar Patel knew the winter climate situations had been excessive however selected to go ahead with a plan to smuggle migrants throughout the border on foot anyway, prosecutor Ryan Lipes mentioned Monday in his opening assertion.
“The migrants were dropped at a dark, isolated part of the Canadian border nowhere near a legal port of entry,” Lipes mentioned.
When Jagdish Patel’s physique was discovered, he was holding Dharmik, who was wrapped in a blanket, prosecutors added.
“This case is about these two men putting profit over people’s lives, profit they earned by smuggling migrants from India across the Canadian border into the U.S.,” Lipes instructed the jury.
Lawyer Thomas Leinenweber mentioned his shopper, Harshkumar Patel, ought to by no means have been charged. Leinenweber mentioned in his opening assertion that nobody would testify that Patel ever talked a couple of smuggling conspiracy or offered visible proof of his involvement.
“One of the worst feelings universally that anyone could feel is when you are wrongfully accused,” Leinenweber mentioned.
Shand’s lawyer, Lisa Lopez, requested the jury to distinguish between the 2 defendants. She mentioned Shand was an unwitting participant within the smuggling ring.
“Mr. Shand was used by Mr. Patel. And being used does not equate under the law to being guilty of conspiracy,” Lopez mentioned.
Lopez mentioned Shand and the migrants had been duped by Patel and the smuggling community.
A jury of eight males and 6 ladies, together with two alternates, was seated Monday afternoon.
Prosecutors plan to point out jurors pictures of the frozen our bodies of Jagdish Patel and his household. The choose allowed the photographs to stay as proof over objections from protection attorneys, one among whom argued the pictures may trigger “extreme prejudice to the jury.”
Federal prosecutors say Harshkumar Patel and Shand had been a part of a world prison community that scouted for purchasers in India, acquired them Canadian pupil visas, organized transportation and smuggled them into the U.S., largely by Washington state or Minnesota.
Prosecutors say Shand instructed investigators that Patel paid him about $25,000 for the 5 journeys.
The U.S. Border Patrol arrested greater than 14,000 Indians on the Canadian border within the 12 months ending Sept. 30. By 2022, the Pew Analysis Middle estimates greater than 725,000 Indians had been dwelling illegally within the U.S., behind solely Mexicans and El Salvadorans.
Prosecutors filed courtroom paperwork displaying Harshkumar Patel was within the U.S. illegally after being refused a visa at the very least 5 instances, and that he recruited Shand at a on line casino close to their properties in Deltona, Florida, simply north of Orlando.
Over 5 weeks, courtroom paperwork present, Patel and Shand usually communicated in regards to the bitter chilly as they smuggled 5 teams of Indians over a quiet stretch of the border. One evening in December 2021, Shand messaged Patel that it was “cold as hell” whereas ready to choose up one group, the paperwork say.
“They going to be alive when they get here?” he allegedly wrote.
Over the last journey in January, prosecutors say Shand had messaged Patel, saying: “Make sure everyone is dressed for the blizzard conditions, please.”