FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) — A jury has convicted two men on charges related to people smuggling for their roles in an international operation that resulted in the death of a family of Indian migrants who froze to death while trying to cross the Canada-US border during a blizzard in 2022.

Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, an Indian national who prosecutors say went by the alias “Dirty Harry,” and Steve Shand, 50, an American from Florida, were part of a sophisticated illegal operation that brought a growing number of Indians in the US, prosecutors said.

They were each convicted of four counts of people smuggling, including conspiracy to bring migrants into the country illegally.

“This trial has exposed the unimaginable cruelty of human trafficking and those criminal organizations that value profit and greed over humanity,” said Minnesota US Attorney Andy Luger.

“In order to make a few thousand dollars, these traffickers put men, women and children in extraordinary danger, resulting in the horrific and tragic death of an entire family. Because of this unimaginable greed, a father, mother and two children froze to death in sub-zero temperatures on the Minnesota-Canada border,” added Luger.

The most serious charges carry maximum sentences of up to 20 years in prison, the U.S. attorney’s office told The Associated Press before the trial. But federal sentencing guidelines are based on complicated formulas. Luger said Friday that various factors will be considered in determining the sentences prosecutors will recommend.

Federal prosecutors said Jagdish Patel, 39; his wife, Vaishaliben, who was in her mid-30s; their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi; and 3-year-old son Dharmik froze to death on January 19, 2022, while trying to cross the border into Minnesota in a plan orchestrated by Patel and Shand. Patel is a common Indian surname and the victims were not related to Harshkumar Patel.

The couple were school teachers, local news reports said. The family was quite well-off by local standards, living in a well-maintained two-story house with a front terrace and wide verandah.

Experts say illegal immigration from India is driven by everything from political repression to a dysfunctional U.S. immigration system that can take years, if not decades, to navigate legally. Much is rooted in economics and how even low-wage jobs in the West can spark hope for a better life.

Before the jury’s verdict on Friday, the federal trial in Fergus Falls, Minn., saw testimony from a the alleged participant in the smuggling ring, a survivor of the treacherous journey across the northern border, border patrol agents and forensic experts.

Defense lawyers squared off against each other, with Shand’s team arguing that he was unwittingly drawn into the scheme by Patel.

Patel’s lawyers, The Canadian Press reportedsaid their client was misidentified. They said “Dirty Harry,” the alleged nickname for Patel found in Shand’s phone, is a different person. Bank records and witness statements from those who encountered Shand near the border did not link him to the murder, they added.

Prosecutors said Patel coordinated the operation while Shand was the driver. Shand was to pick up 11 Indian immigrants from the Minnesota side of the border, prosecutors said. Only seven survived the foot crossing. Canadian authorities found two parents and their young children later that morning, frozen to death.

The lawsuit included an internal account of how the international smuggling ring allegedly operates and who it targets.

Rajinder Singh, 51, confessed to making more than $400,000 by smuggling more than 500 people through the same ring that included Patel and Shand. Singh said most of the people he smuggled were from the state of Gujarat. He said migrants often pay traffickers about $100,000 to get them from India to the U.S., where they would work to pay off their debts at low-wage jobs in cities across the country. Singh said smugglers would manage their finances through “hawala,” an informal system of money transfer that is based on trust.

The illegal immigration pipeline from India has been around for a long time, but it has grown suddenly along the US-Canada border. The US Border Patrol arrested more than 14,000 Indians at the Canadian border in the year ending Sept. 30, which was 60 percent of all arrests along that border and more than 10 times the number two years ago.

By 2022, the Pew Research Center estimates that more than 725,000 Indians were living illegally in the US, trailing only Mexicans and Salvadorans.

Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Jamie Holt said the case is a stark reminder of the realities that victims of human trafficking face.

“People smuggling is a vile crime that exploits the most vulnerable, exploiting their desperation and dreams for a better life,” Holt said. “The suffering endured by this family is unimaginable and it is our duty to ensure that such atrocities are met with the full force of the law.”

One juror Kevin Paul, of Clearwater, Minn., later told reporters that it was difficult for jurors to see the images of the family’s bodies. He said he grew up in North Dakota and is familiar with the types of conditions that led to their deaths.

“It’s pretty brutal,” Paul said. “I couldn’t imagine them having to do what they had to do out there in the middle of nowhere.”

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