A U.S. court is set to hear an appeal next month from a man found guilty in a human smuggling case that resulted in the deaths of a family of four attempting to cross the Manitoba border into Minnesota during a snowstorm.
The bodies of 39-year-old Jagdish Patel, his 37-year-old spouse Vaishali, their 11-year-old daughter Vihangi, and their three-year-old son Dharmik were discovered near Emerson, Manitoba, on January 19, 2022. They were located in a snow-covered field just over 10 meters from the U.S. border.
A panel of judges will review the argument from Steve Shand’s attorney in St. Paul, Minnesota, on October 23, according to court documents.
In earlier court submissions this year, Shand’s attorney requested the United States Court of Appeals to overturn his client’s conviction and sentence handed down in federal court, and to remand the case to a lower court for a new trial “and/or other suitable proceedings.”
Shand, a Florida resident, was apprehended near the border on the night the Patel family perished. Last year, he received a prison sentence of 6½ years in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
After less than 90 minutes of deliberation, a jury found Shand and co-defendant Harshkumar Patel guilty in 2024. Harshkumar Patel, who is from India, is not related to the deceased family.
The two men were charged with offenses concerning the transportation of unauthorized individuals into the U.S., facilitating their transit, and profiting from these actions.
Patel received a 10-year sentence for orchestrating the smuggling operation and employing Shand to transport a group of migrants who had crossed the border from Manitoba into the U.S.
On the day the Patel family died, temperatures plummeted to –23 C, with wind chill making it feel like between –35 and –38 degrees.
A written decision regarding the appeal is anticipated to be issued at a future date.
