FERGUS FALLS, Minn. – A criminal network stretching from India to Canada made money smuggling families seeking a better life in the United States, including a man who died holding his 3-year-old son in snow flurries and chilly temperatures two years ago, federal prosecutors plan to argue in a trial that begins Monday in Minnesota.

Prosecutors charged the Indian citizen Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel29, of the development of the scheme and Steve ShandFlorida man, 50, waited in a truck for 11 immigrants, including the couple and two children who died after trying to cross the border into the U.S. on foot

Prosecutors say Patel recruited Shand at a casino near their homes in Deltona, Florida, north of Orlando.

Jagdish Patel, 39, died along with his wife Vaishaliben, who was in his 30s, and their 11-year-old daughter Vihangi and their 3-year-old son Dharmik. Patel is a common Indian surname and the victims were not related to Harshkumar Patel, who has pleaded not guiltyas does Shand.

The family, from Dingucha village in Gujarat state, are believed to have spent hours wandering fields in blizzard conditions as wind chills reached minus 36 Fahrenheit (minus 38 Celsius). Canadian authorities found the frozen bodies of the Patels on the morning of January 19, 2022. Jagdish Patel was holding Dharmik, who was wrapped in a blanket.

Federal prosecutors say Patel and Shand were part of an operation that sought out clients in India, got them Canadian student visas, arranged transportation and smuggled them into the U.S., mostly through Washington state or Minnesota.

The US Border Patrol arrested more than 14,000 Indians at the Canadian border in the year ending September 30. By 2022, the Pew Research Center estimated that more than 725,000 Indians were living illegally in the US, behind only Mexicans and Salvadorans.

Harshkumar Patel’s attorney, Thomas Leinenweber, told The Associated Press that his client came to America to escape poverty and build a better life for himself and now “is being wrongfully accused of participating in this horrible crime. He trusts his adoptive justice system. country and believes the truth will come out at trial.” Attorneys for Shand did not return messages.

Documents filed by prosecutors show Patel was in the US illegally after being denied a visa at least five times.

Over a five-week period, according to court documents, Patel and Shand often communicated about the bitter cold as they smuggled five groups of Indians along a quiet stretch of the border. One night in December 2021, Shand texted Patel that it was “cold as hell” while waiting to pick up a group, the documents say.

“Will they be alive when they get here?” he would have written.

During the last trip in January, Shand had texted Patel, saying, “Make sure everyone is dressed for blizzard conditions, please,” according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors say Shand told investigators Patel paid him about $25,000 for the five trips.

Jagdish Patel grew up in Dingucha. He and his family lived with his parents. The couple were school teachers, according to local news.

Satveer Chaudhary is a Minneapolis immigration attorney who has helped migrants exploited by motel owners, many of them Gujaratis. He said smugglers and shady business interests have promised many migrants an American dream that doesn’t exist when they arrive.

“The promises of the almighty dollar are leading many people to take undue risks with their own dignity and, as we’re learning here, with their lives,” Chaudary said.