A group of current or former Louisiana police chiefs and the operator of a Subway sandwich shop are accused of colluding in a decade-long scheme to falsify police reports to help foreign nationals get visas meant for crime victims or witnesses.
A federal grand jury returned a 62-count indictment charging two police chiefs, a former police chief, a marshal and the restaurant operator on charges including bribery, mail fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and immigration fraud, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.
The scheme focused on getting U visas, which allow foreign nationals without any official status in the US to stay in the country in certain circumstances when they’re victims of or witnesses to crimes, acting US Attorney Alexander Van Hook of the Western District of Louisiana said.
U visas are important in helping law enforcement solve cases, Van Hook said. But the US limits the number of U visas that can be issued, and fraudulent applications can prevent legitimate crime victims or witnesses from getting a visa.
The store operator allegedly paid $5,000 to officers to create false police reports saying 24 people were the victims of crimes, Van Hook said. The collusion allegedly took place from December 2015 to July 2025, the prosecutor’s office said.
The defendants and charges include:
– Subway sandwich store operator Chandrakant “Lala” Patel, of Oakdale, Louisiana, who is charged with bribery, mail fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit visa fraud
– Oakdale Police Chief Chad Doyle, who is charged with visa fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit visa fraud
– Michael “Freck” Slaney, a marshal in Oakdale who is charged with visa fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit visa fraud
– Police Chief Glynn Dixon of Forest Hill, Louisiana, who is charged with visa fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit visa fraud
– Tebo Onishea, former police chief of Glenmora, Louisiana, who is charged with visa fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit visa fraud
A 21-page indictment filed in federal court this month includes the first initials and last names of 24 alleged victims – all of whom have the surname Patel. It was not immediately clear if any of those foreign nationals are related to the Subway store operator.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Caroll Alvarado, Jeremy Grisham and Devon Sayers contributed to this report.
Correction:
An earlier version of this story misstated the number of counts in the indictment.
