Man charged in Canada-U.S. human-smuggling scheme to appear in U.S. court

A Florida man is set to appear in U.S. court today, charged with sneaking migrants across the Canada-U.S. border in a perilous human-smuggling scheme that cost the lives of four people, including an infant.

Steve Shand, 47, will appear by video before a Minnesota judge for a detention and preliminary hearing.

Shand, of Deltona, Fla., is charged with transporting or attempting to transport illegal aliens.

The victims, believed to be a family from India who perished in the cold, were found just metres from the border on the Canadian side, near the Manitoba town of Emerson.

Investigators believe they were part of a larger group of Indian migrants who were trying to get into the U.S. by way of Canada.