Florida man at center of fatal human smuggling case pleads not guilty in Minnesota
Source: AP
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Florida man charged with human smuggling after four migrants were found dead last year near the Canadian border has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.
Court records show that Steve Shand, of Deltona, Florida, entered the plea Friday in a hearing for his arraignment held via video conference.
Federal authorities arrested Shand in January 2022 after authorities found the bodies of the four, who had frozen to death during a blizzard, near Emerson, Manitoba, which borders Minnesota and North Dakota. According to a federal criminal complaint, the dead were a family of four, including an infant and a teenager, and were identified by surviving immigrants as being Indian nationals.
Five other Indian nationals were also found on foot in Minnesota and two more were found in Shand’s van, officials said.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/human-smuggling-deaths-plea-minnesota-canada-9a1baaf6ee54b0cf89af6a4739222eb4