Louisiana police chiefs federally indicted for visa fraud to help illegal immigrants remain in US

Two Louisiana police chiefs were among at least five people indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury for alleged visa fraud to help illegal immigrants remain in the U.S.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana in announcing the indictment said five people, including the two police chiefs and one former police chief, were indicted for conspiracy to commit visa and mail fraud and money laundering. An Oakdale businessman, Chandrakant “Lala” Patel, was also charged with bribery.

Oakdale Police Chief Chad Doyle, Forrest Hill Police Chief Glynn Dixon, former Glenmora Police Chief Tebo Onishea, Oakdale City Marshall Michael Slaney, and Patel were all allegedly part of a visa fraud scheme from December 26, 2015, until at least July 15, 2025, according to the indictment.

The five individuals, along with others, allegedly created false police reports to obtain non-immigrant U-Visas for illegal immigrants, according to the Justice Department. The reports named several victims of purported armed robberies in Louisiana and were used to help the alleged victims apply for U-Visas.

The purpose of the visas is to protect victims of crimes who are willing to assist law enforcement in criminal investigations or prosecutions.

Illegal immigrants seeking such visas would allegedly contact either Patel or someone else who would then contact him so they could be listed as armed robbery victims in the police reports, which would then be used to apply for U-Visas. 

Those seeking the visas would pay Patel thousands of dollars, and he would then ask Doyle, Slaney, Dixon or Onishea to write the false police reports with the names of the illegal immigrants.

Patel also allegedly corruptly gave, offered and agreed to pay an agent of the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office the sum of $5,000 on February 18, 2025, "intending to influence and reward said agent in exchange for a fraudulent police report from the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office," according to the DOJ.

The indictment also alleges that the five defendants committed mail fraud by mailing the false visa forms through the U.S. Postal Service, a private interstate carrier, or a commercial interstate carrier to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Each of the defendants faces a sentence of up to 5 years in prison on the conspiracy charges; up to 10 years on the visa fraud charges; and up to 20 years on the mail fraud charges. Patel also faces up to 10 years on the bribery charge. Additionally, the defendants could be ordered to pay a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.