Men charged with smuggling Indian family who died near Canada-U.S. border plead not guilty ( www.cbc.ca )

A man 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, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to seven counts of human smuggling.

Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 28, who prosecutors say went by the alias "Dirty Harry," entered his plea during a brief teleconference with U.S. Magistrate Judge Leo Brisbois of Duluth, Minn.

Steven Shand, 49, was hired by Patel to drive the Indian nationals from the Canadian border to the Chicago area, authorities said. Shand, of Deltona, Florida, pleaded not guilty during the same hearing to four counts contained in an updated indictment against them that was unsealed last week.

The victims were identified as Jagdish Patel, 39; his wife, Vaishaliben, 34; their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi; and three-year-old son Dharmik, all from the village of Dingucha in Gujarat state. Jagdish Patel and his wife were educated and had worked as teachers, but sought a better life in the U.S, relatives have said.