Washington | A US federal court sentenced an Indian national to one day in prison, a USD 1,000 fine and ordered his removal from the country after he pleaded guilty to visa fraud and staging armed robberies.
Mitul Patel, 40, a resident of Worcester, Massachusetts, was sentenced by a US District Court judge in Boston on Wednesday in connection with a conspiracy to conduct staged armed robberies of convenience stores.
The purpose was to allow store clerks to falsely claim they were crime victims on immigration applications.
Patel, along with 10 others involved in the scheme, pleaded guilty in June 2026. According to the charging documents, beginning in March 2023, Rambhai Patel and his co-conspirators set up and carried out staged armed robberies of at least six convenience/liquor stores and fast-food restaurants in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
It is alleged that the purpose of the staged robberies was to allow the clerks present to falsely claim they were victims of a violent crime on an application for a U non-immigration status (U Visa). Mitul Patel paid Rambhai Patel to participate as a "victim" in a staged armed robbery of a store in Worcester in October 2023.
A U Visa is available to victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and who have been helpful to law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity. During the staged robberies, the "robber" would allegedly threaten store clerks with an apparent firearm before taking cash from the register and fleeing, while the interaction was captured on store surveillance video. The clerks would then wait five or more minutes until the "robber" had escaped before calling the police to report the "crime." The "victims" are alleged to have each paid Rambhai Patel to participate in the scheme. In turn, Rambhai Patel paid the store owners for the use of their stores for the staged robbery.
The organiser, Rambhai Patel, the "robber," and the getaway driver, Balwinder Singh, were previously charged and later convicted in May 2025.
