Current:Home > StocksMan known as "Dirty Harry" arrested 2 years after family of 4 froze to death trying to enter U.S. from Canada -Elevate Capital Network
Man known as "Dirty Harry" arrested 2 years after family of 4 froze to death trying to enter U.S. from Canada
View
Date:2025-04-24 00:17:33
A 28-year-old man accused of recruiting the driver in a human smuggling operation has been arrested, more than two years after a family of four from India froze to death trying to enter the U.S. from Canada, authorities said.
Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel — who officials say was also known as "Dirty Harry" — was arrested Wednesday in Chicago on human smuggling charges stemming from a warrant issued in September.
Patel allegedly hired Steve Shand of Deltona, Florida, to drive migrants from the Canadian border to the Chicago area. Shand, who allegedly told authorities Patel paid him a total of $25,000 to make five such trips in December 2021 and January 2022, has pleaded not guilty to human smuggling charges and awaits trial on March 25.
Patel's attorney, Michael Leonard, said Monday that so far he's been told very little about the allegations.
"Based upon the fact that, at this point, we have been provided with nothing more than accusations in the form of a Criminal Complaint that recites hearsay statements, we are not in a position to legitimately evaluate the Government's allegations," Leonard said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Shand was at the wheel of a 15-passenger van stopped by the U.S. Border Patrol in North Dakota, just south of the Canadian border, on Jan. 19, 2022. Authorities spotted five other people in the snow nearby. All Indian nationals, they told officers they'd been walking for more than 11 hours in frigid blizzard conditions, a complaint in Shand's case said.
One of the men was carrying a backpack that had supplies for a small child in it, and told officers it belonged to a family who had become separated from the group overnight. Canadian Mounties began a search and found three bodies together - a man, a woman and a young child - just 30 feet from the border near Emerson, Manitoba, which is on the Red River that separates North Dakota from Minnesota. A second child was found a short distance away. All apparently died from exposure.
Minnesota was under a wind chill advisory when the incident occurred, CBS Minnesota reported after the deaths were reported. During that time, feels-like temperatures in northern Minnesota were as cold as 29 degrees below zero.
The migrant with the backpack told authorities he had paid the equivalent of $87,000 in U.S. money to an organization in India to set up the move, according to a federal complaint from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Federal prosecutors believe Harshkumar Patel organized the smuggling operation. The victims were identified as Jagdish and Vaishaliben Patel and their children, 11-year-old Vihangi and 3-year-old Dharmik.
It wasn't immediately clear if the family was related to Harshkumar Patel, a common name in India. The CBC reported that officials say Patel used at least five aliases, including "Dirty Harry."
Federal authorities believe Patel himself entered the U.S. illegally in 2018 after he had been refused a U.S. visa at least five times, the complaint said. Shand told investigators that Patel operates a gambling business in Orange City, Florida, and that he knew him because he gambled there and operated a taxi business that took people there.
The complaint cited cellphone records indicating hundreds of communications between Shand and Patel to work out logistics for illegal trafficking. One text message from Shand to Patel on Jan. 19, 2022, stated, "Make sure everyone is dressed for blizzard conditions please."
Last year police said they arrested three alleged black-market immigration agents in western India in connection with the case.
- In:
- Minnesota
- Smuggling
- Canada
veryGood! (4)
Related
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- Almcoin Trading Center: Token Crowdfunding Model
- How removing 4 dams will return salmon to the Klamath River and the river to the people
- 2023 in Climate News
- Michigan lawmaker who was arrested in June loses reelection bid in Republican primary
- A Greek air force training jet crashes outside a southern base and search is underway for the pilot
- Bill Granger, chef who brought Aussie-style breakfast to world capitals, dies at 54
- Actor Lee Sun-kyun of Oscar-winning film ‘Parasite’ dies
- 'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
- California man stuck in seaside crevasse for days is rescued in time for Christmas
Ranking
- How effective is the Hyundai, Kia anti-theft software? New study offers insights.
- Wolfgang Schaeuble, German elder statesman and finance minister during euro debt crisis, dies at 81
- Taylor Swift's Game Day Nods to Travis Kelce Will Never Go Out of Style
- Kanye West posts Hebrew apology to Jewish community ahead of 'Vultures' album release
- Person accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at Capitol pleads not guilty to assault charge
- Thousands of Black children with sickle cell disease struggle to access disability payments
- Search resumes for woman who went into frozen Alaska river to save her dog
- Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson: Rare baseball cards found in old tobacco tin
Recommendation
Tropical weather brings record rainfall. Experts share how to stay safe in floods.
North Dakota Republican leaders call on state rep to resign after slurs to police during DUI stop
Purdue still No. 1, while Florida Atlantic rises in USA TODAY Sports men's basketball poll
Anthropologie's End-of Season Sale is Here: Save an Extra 40% off on Must-Have Fashion, Home & More
Olympic disqualification of gold medal hopeful exposes 'dark side' of women's wrestling
Authorities identify remains found by hikers 47 years ago near the Arizona-Nevada border
'The Simpsons' makes fun of Jim Harbaugh, Michigan football scandals in latest episode
Fantasy football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: 15 players to start or sit in NFL Week 17