Harshkumar Patel and Steve Shand stood trial on charges they were involved in the operation that resulted in a family of four from India freezing to death as they attempted to cross the U.S-Canada border in January 2022. A federal jury found Patel and Shand guilty on all four counts related to human smuggling in November.

Lawyers for a man convicted of human smuggling charges by a Minnesota jury after a family from India froze to death in Manitoba while trying to walk across the Canada-U.S. border in 2022 are asking for their client to either be acquitted in the case or get a new trial.

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. — The two men found guilty of human smuggling in the case of a family from India who froze to death while trying to walk across the Canada-U.S. border in Manitoba in 2022 are seeking acquittal, or new trials.