Arizona motel owners sentenced for using businesses to harbor illegal aliens
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March 31, 2008

Arizona motel owners sentenced for using businesses to harbor illegal aliens
ICE-led probe results in criminal and civil forfeitures of more than $1 million

PHOENIX - A federal judge has sentenced the last of the 13 owners and former owners of six motels in Mesa, Ariz., who were indicted after a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revealed they were using their businesses to harbor illegal aliens in support of organized human smuggling.

U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Martone imposed sentences of probation, fines and forfeiture on the final two defendants in the case March 26. The owners of the motels on Mesa's Main Street were charged in separate indictments with conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens following a nine-month ICE undercover investigation. The combined criminal and civil forfeiture in the cases totaled $1.3 million.

According to the indictments, on numerous occasions the defendants rented rooms to undercover officers posing as human smugglers, with some charging the smugglers higher rates than their ordinary customers. The indictments described how some of the defendants coached the undercover officers on ways to conceal their smuggling activities, advising them to register under false names, rent multiple rooms, and park their vehicles in places that would avoid attracting attention.

 

Motel

 

Defendant

 

Sentence

 

Charges

 

Forfeiture

Kiva Lodge Motel

Babulal Patel

5 years probation

conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens

$150,000 (civil and criminal combined)

Gitaben Patel

3 years probation

misprision of a felony

HiWay Host Motel

Ashok R. Patel

364 days probation and $500 fine

misprision of a felony

$150,000 (civil only)

 

Amarkumar Patel

1 year probation

accessory after the fact to illegal entry

Majestic Guest Inn

Anand B. Bhakta

3 years probation and $25,000 fine

conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens

$300,000 (civil and criminal combined)

 

Sunita Bhakta

3 years probation and $5,000 fine

misprision of a felony

Roadrunner Motel

Bhupendra Patel

5 years probation

conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens

$250,000 (civil and criminal combined)

Mahduben Patel

5 years probation

conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens

Westernaire Motel

 

Bharabtai Bhakta

5 years probation & $6,000 fine

conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens

$200,000 (civil and criminal combined)

 

Mahduben Bhakta

5 years probation

conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens

Roshan B. Bhakta

5 years probation & $10,000 fine

conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens

Centebar Suites

Pravinkumar Patel

2 years probation

conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens

$250,000 (civil and criminal combined)

Sheilaben Patel

2 years probation

conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens

The criminal probe focusing on the Mesa motels formally began in February 2005 after ICE received several leads from the public regarding possible human smuggling activity at the establishments. Border Patrol agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as the Mesa Police Department, assisted ICE in the ensuing investigation.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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