Florida man at center of fatal human smuggling case pleads not guilty in Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Florida man charged with human smuggling related to the deaths last year of four immigrants near the Canadian border has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges. Court records show that Steve Shand entered the plea Friday (May 26, 2023) in a hearing held via video conference. Federal authorities arrested Shand in January 2022 after authorities found a family of four Indian nationals, including an infant and a teen, who had frozen to death during a blizzard just across the Canadian border. Officials also found five other Indian nationals on foot in Minnesota and two more in Shand’s van. The Deltona, Florida, man is charged with bringing two people into the country illegally and illegally transporting them once in the U.S.