Various law enforcement leaders in Louisiana, a marshal, and a Subway restaurant owner, allegedly falsified police reports over the course of roughly ten years. Their motive was to assist hundreds of people in acquiring U visas, designated for crime victims. This elaborate ruse, as charged in an indictment, led to a multi-count accusation unleashed on July 16.
The Subway franchisee, who was also a proprietor of local convenience stores, was named among the law enforcement authorities in a federal grand jury indictment consisting of 62 counts. Facing charges encompassing conspiracy, immigration fraud, robbery, mail fraud, and money laundering, these individuals were apprehended on July 15 with no incidents.
This deceitful operation, according to Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, Alexander C. Van Hook, has been in effect since late 2015 at the least. Immigrants seeking U Visas would offer considerable sums to Chandrakant ‘Lala’ Patel, the Subway and convenience store proprietor, to illicitly help them gain U.S. status.
In turn, Patel would use this money to influence the mentioned law enforcement officials into inventing police reports. These reports falsely identified these immigrants as victims of armed robbery, thereby making them eligible for the U visas. The exchange of money for falsified accusation, though not just fraudulent but deeply disappointing, was unfortunately a part of this operation.
Importantly, Van Hook states that the implicated officers’ acts do not represent their entire departments. While the trust attributed to these roles was unequivocally broken, he emphasizes that the community need not worry about the integrity of their remaining law enforcement officers.
The accused in this elaborate U visa fraud consist of four key legal enforcement officials from central Louisiana and a business proprietor. They include Chandrakant ‘Lala’ Patel of Oakdale, Louisiana, Chad Doyle (chief of police for the City of Oakdale), Michael ‘Freck’ Slaney (Marshal of the Ward 5 Marshal’s Office in Oakdale), Glynn Dixon (chief of police for the City of Forest Hill), and Tebo Onishea (former chief of police for the City of Glenmora).
Upon conviction, the defendants could experience severe penalties, including up to five years of incarceration for conspiracy, a decade for visa fraud, and two decades for mail fraud. Additionally, Patel risks facing another decade of imprisonment for bribery. Furthermore, each count could bring about a potential fine climbing to $250,000.
The U visa in question here offers U nonimmigrant status, rendered to individuals inflicted by specific crimes and their family members. This status allows such individuals to stay in the U.S. during the span of crime investigations or prosecutions. Every year, the U.S. issues up to 10,000 such U visas while compiling a waitlist for any excess applications.
In the past decade, Van Hook alleges a considerable number of these visas were inappropriately issued to individuals implicated in this Louisiana scheme. He states, ‘When I say there are hundreds of names, I mean that those visas were indeed granted. Our emphasis was on those that have been approved.’
As part of this deceitful operation, foreign nationals in quest of these visas would connect with Patel directly or through an intermediary, offering him thousands of dollars in return. Subsequently, Patel would pay the implicated law enforcement officials $5,000 per individual to falsely report them as victims of an armed robbery in police records.
These fabricated police reports would then be utilized as evidence for qualifying for the U visa. Van Hook clarified, ‘In actuality, these reported armed robberies never occurred, and the enlisted individuals were never victims.’
Ironically, Patel himself became a recipient of a U visa in 2023. This occurred after he claimed to be a victim of an armed robbery, as indicted.
Van Hook commented on the unusual volume of reported armed robberies involving victims who were not Louisiana residents. The federal authorities have been thoroughly investigating these incidents since the previous year.
In a significant event in February 2025, Patel allegedly proposed a $5,000 payment to a Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office official in exchange for yet another fabricated police report. The Sheriff’s Office has been a collaborative partner with federal officials in investigating this case. Van Hook confirms that this deceptive report was never put into action.
Repercussions for those who obtained visas illicitly through this arrangement remain uncertain. The aftermath of such a vast fraudulent operation poses numerous challenges that the legal authorities are yet to address.