4 cops, together with two present police chiefs, in Louisiana are accused of fabricating police reviews in a scheme to illegally download U.S. visas for immigrants, federal prosecutors mentioned Wednesday. A Louisiana businessman may be charged within the scheme.
The U.S. Legal professional’s Place of business within the Western District of Louisiana alleges that between Dec. 26, 2015 and no less than July 15, 2025, businessman Chandrakant Patel, Oakdale Police Leader Chad Doyle, Woodland Hill Police Leader Glynn Dixon, former Glenmora Police Leader Tebo Onishea and Michael Slaney, a marshal within the Ward 5 Marshal’s Place of business, conspired to provide false reviews that may be used to use for U visas, which sufferers of sure crimes are eligible for.Â
Immigrants looking for U visas would touch Patel or any other facilitator who would touch Patel, consistent with an indictment. Patel would then allegedly ask Doyle, Dixon Onishea and Slaney to provide false police reviews announcing the immigrants were the sufferers of armed robberies. The cops would additionally supply certification and attestation of paperwork wanted for the U visa, the indictment mentioned.Â
U.S. Legal professional Alexander C. Van Hook mentioned in a information convention that the police officers have been paid $5,000 for every identify they supplied a falsified file for. There have been masses of names indexed at the reviews, Hook mentioned, growing the illusion of an “bizarre focus of armed robberies of people that weren’t from Louisiana.”Â
Jose Luis Magana / AP 
“If truth be told, the armed robberies by no means came about,” Van Hook mentioned.
Patel additionally allegedly paid the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Place of business $5,000 in February 2025, “intending to steer and praise” an agent who would write him a false police file from that place of work.
Patel is charged with a depend of conspiracy to devote visa fraud, one depend of bribery, 24 counts of mail fraud and 8 counts of cash laundering. Doyle and Dixon are every charged with a depend of conspiracy to devote visa fraud, six counts of visa fraud, six counts of mail fraud and one depend of cash laundering. Slaney is charged with a depend of conspiracy to devote visa fraud, six counts of visa fraud, six counts of mail fraud and two counts of cash laundering. Onishea is charged with a depend of conspiracy to devote visa fraud, six counts of visa fraud and 6 counts of mail fraud.
Doyle, Dixon and Slaney were arrested, CBS associate WBRZ reported. An “ongoing investigation” is happening all over Louisiana, officers mentioned. Doyle and Dixon’s properties have additionally been raided, WBRZ reported.Â
The conspiracy fee carries a sentence of as much as 5 years in jail. The visa fraud fees have a most sentence of 10 years in keeping with depend. The mail fraud fees have a sentence of as much as twenty years in jail in keeping with depend. The defendants may be ordered to pay a tremendous of as much as $250,000 in keeping with depend, and the cash laundering fees name for the forfeiture of financial institution accounts, actual property and automobiles. Patel additionally faces as much as 10 years at the bribery fee.Â
U visas have been offered in October 2000 as a part of the Sufferers of Trafficking and Violence Coverage Act. The act was once supposed to make stronger legislation enforcement businesses’ skill to research and prosecute crimes, whilst protective sufferers who’re prepared to assist examine them. The Related Press reported that about 10,000 other folks won U visas within the 12-month duration that ended Sept. 30, 2022, which was once the newest duration that the Division of Fatherland Safety shared knowledge for.Â
A Fatherland Safety Place of business of Inspector Common file revealed in 2022 warned that the U visa program was once no longer controlled successfully and was once prone to fraud. In 2024, six males have been charged with staging armed robberies in a couple of states to fraudulently download U visa paperwork.
