Two men found guilty in smuggling deaths of family at US-Canada border

Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel and Steve Anthony Shand were found guilty on all counts of human trafficking, criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Both had pleaded not guilty to the charges in relation to the death of the Patel family, whose bodies were found frozen in a Manitoba field by Canadian authorities 12m (39ft) from the US border.

The trial has shed light on human smuggling operations that help foreign nationals move to North America unlawfully.

The jury presented the verdict in a Minnesota court on Friday after a few hours of deliberation.

The two men will be sentenced at a later date. They each face as long as 55 years in prison.

The trial, which began on Monday, included testimony from another convicted migrant smuggler and a survivor from the same group that the Patel family was traveling with.

The jurors were also shown text messages sent between the two accused in the weeks leading up to the day the Patel family died. They discussed travel logistics for the migrants, as well as the freezing temperatures on the day of the fatal trip.