Louisiana police chiefs arrested in alleged visa fraud schemes
The U.S. Attorney's Office for Louisiana's Western district said in a news release that Oakdale Police Chief Chad Doyle, Forrest Hill Police Chief Glynn Dixon and former Glenmora Police Chief Tebo Onishea were part of a conspiracy to get nonimmigrant 'u visas' by making false police reports about bogus violent crimes against immigrants in exchange for thousands of dollars.
Also charged in the alleged scheme were Oakdale City Marshall Michael Slaney and Oakdale businessman Chandrakant 'Lala' Patel.
The U nonimmigrant status prevents some immigrant victims of crimes in the U.S. from being deported.
A grand jury indicted Doyle, Dixon, Slaney, Onishea and Patel this week.
According to their indictments, immigrants seeking U-Visas would allegedly contact Patel, who would help them be named as 'victims' in police reports alleging armed robbery. The prosecutors allege that the immigrants paid Patel thousands of dollars to get the law enforcement officials to write false police reports and provide certification as supporting documents for their U visa applications. The officials allegedly were compensated in return.
Authorities alleged that the scheme stretched as long as a decade and continued until last month.
The officers face various counts of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, mail fraud and money laundering. Patel also faces a bribery charge.
If convicted, each faces a sentence of up to five years in prison on each of the conspiracy charges; up to a decade on the visa fraud charges; up to 20 years on the mail fraud charges; and Patel faces up to 10 years on the additional bribery charge. They also could be fined up to $250,000 on each count. Federal authorities have moved to seize some of their personal property, including bank accounts and vehicles.
President Trump's administration has focused heavily on deportations since his return to office in January. Trump and his allies also have long backed efforts to cut the U visa protections to prevent potential misuse.
The investigation into the Louisiana visa case was led by Trump's new Homeland Security Task Force, created to facilitate his immigration crackdown.
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