An illegal immigrant from India has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in the United States after he paid human traffickers to abuse underage girls at a Nebraska hotel.Kavankumar Patel, a 27-year-old Indian citizen from Gujarat who is living in the United States illegally, was sentenced this week in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska.
The ten-year prison sentence was imposed after Patel was convicted of two counts of sexual trafficking of a minor.Upon his release, he will be placed on five years of supervised release and, furthermore, faces deportation to India due to his illegal immigrant status.The sex trafficking ring was uncovered on January 6, 2025, after Omaha police officers responded to a routine theft complaint. While investigating the case, officers observed clear signs of possible human trafficking at the location.The Homeland Security Task Force and local police launched a rescue mission that rescued two minor girls, ages 15 and 16, from the AmericInn hotel in Omaha. The victims were transported across state lines, shuttling between Denver and Omaha several times, to be sold for commercial sex. After their rescue, the teens were transferred to Project Harmony for specialized interviews.During the interviews, the two victims revealed that their traffickers forced them to comply with the final ultimatum.
The girls were told they had to perform sexual acts with hotel staff to get a discounted room rate, or they would be thrown out on the street. Hotel staff actively enabled the abuse. Two employees paid traffickers to assault one of the girls, while a third employee had sex with the other minor.
Patel worked at the AmericInn hotel and admitted that he stole money directly from the hotel’s funds in order to pay traffickers for sex with one of the underage victims.In exchange for these sexual services, hotel employees allowed traffickers and minors to remain on the premises for several days. During this time, traffickers posted commercial sex advertisements online and coordinated appointments for clients. Victims later reported that they had little food and were trapped. They thought they had no choice but to comply with the traffickers’ orders.After the ruling, United States Attorney Leslie A. Woods was involved in a multi-agency rescue operation.“The United States Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will never tire of working as hard as we need to to protect the most vulnerable victims in our communities,” Woods said.