Suspects plead not guilty in human smuggling case involving Indian family’s death on Canada border

By STEVE KARNOWSKI
Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A man has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of human smuggling after he was accused of helping smuggle people across the U.S.-Canada border into Minnesota, including four members of an Indian family who froze to death in 2022. Twenty-eight-year-old Harshkumar Patel entered his plea during a brief teleconference Wednesday with U.S. Magistrate Judge Leo Brisbois of Duluth. Authorities say Patel hired 49-year-old Steven Shand of Deltona, Florida, to drive the Indian nationals from the Canadian border to the Chicago area. Shand pleaded not guilty during the same hearing. Four counts were included in an updated indictment against them that was unsealed last week.