Three present and former Louisiana police chiefs, a U.S. marshal and a businessman have been federally charged with collaborating in an immigrant visa fraud scheme, prosecutors introduced Wednesday.
A federal grand jury in Shreveport returned a 62-count indictment in opposition to the 5 individuals on July 2, Performing U.S. Lawyer Alexander Van Hook for the Western District of Louisiana stated in a information convention Wednesday.
The police chiefs took bribes in change for submitting false police stories that may permit noncitizens to hunt a visa that lets sure crime victims keep within the U.S., Van Hook stated.
The 5 defendants are: Chad Doyle, the chief of police in Oakdale; Michael Slaney, a marshal from the Ward 5 Marshal’s workplace in Oakdale; Glynn Dixon, the chief of police in Forest Hill; Tebo Onishea, the previous chief of police in Glenmora; and Chandrakant Patel, a businessman from Oakdale. They had been every charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud and different costs, prosecutors stated in a information launch.
Patel was additional charged with one depend of bribery, 24 counts of mail fraud and eight counts of cash laundering.
Doyle and Dixon had been additional charged with six counts of visa fraud, six counts of mail fraud and one depend of cash laundering. Slaney was additionally charged with six counts of visa fraud, six counts of mail fraud, and two counts of cash laundering. Onishea was moreover charged with six counts of visa fraud and 6 counts of mail fraud.
For a decade, from December 2015 to a minimum of this month, prosecutors alleged Patel was a fixer who unlawfully procured nonimmigrant U-visas with the assistance of legislation enforcement officers.
The U nonimmigrant standing visa is for victims of sure crimes who assist legislation enforcement or authorities officers examine these crimes. A part of the applying course of features a signature of a licensed official or legislation enforcement company confirming the person was the sufferer of a qualifying crime, prosecutors stated.
People searching for U-visas would contact Patel to be named as “victims” in police stories of an armed theft, so they might submit purposes for U-visas, the indictment alleged.
These people allegedly paid Patel 1000’s of {dollars} to take part within the scheme, and Patel would ask alleged co-conspirators Doyle, Slaney, Dixon and Onishea to jot down false police stories naming the people as victims of armed robberies, and supply certification and supporting paperwork, prosecutors stated.
Collectively they “authored, facilitated, produced and authenticated false police stories” in a number of central Louisiana parishes, the information launch stated.
“There was an uncommon focus of armed robberies, a lot of armed robberies of people who weren’t from Louisiana,” Van Hook stated. “Effectively, the truth is, the armed robberies by no means came about, and people listed within the purposes had been by no means victims.”
Patel allegedly supplied to pay an agent of the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Workplace $5,000 on Feb. 18, “aspiring to affect and reward stated agent in change for a fraudulent police report,” prosecutors stated.
Van Hook stated Patel allegedly paid the legislation enforcement officers $5,000 for every overseas nationwide positioned on police stories, and that had been lots of of such stories.
From Sept. 27, 2023 to Dec. 26, 2024, Doyle Slaney, Dixon and Onishea allegedly submitted false statements in immigration purposes by signing I-918B varieties regardless of understanding the people had been by no means victims of crimes.
The investigation opened following a tip final July from Citizenship and Immigration Companies, and was investigated by Homeland Safety Investigations, the FBI and IRS, together with the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace.
Van Hook stated the boys had been arrested Tuesday by federal legislation enforcement brokers and search warrants had been executed at a number of areas together with the Oakdale and Forest Hill police departments and a Subway sandwich store in Oakdale operated by Patel. Officers stated Wednesday all had been launched besides Patel.
No attorneys had been listed for the defendants within the on-line court docket docket. NBC Information has reached out to the 5 males for remark.
The mail fraud cost stems from the 5 males sending out paperwork by the U.S. Postal Service.
If convicted the defendants every resist 5 years in jail on the conspiracy cost, as much as 10 years on the visa fraud cost, as much as 20 years on the mail fraud cost, and Patel as much as 10 years the bribery cost. In addition they may very well be ordered to pay a fantastic of $250,000 on every depend.
The Related Press contributed reporting.
