US court sentences Gujarati man to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting minor

A federal court in the United States has sentenced Gujarat native Kavankumar Patel to 10 years in prison for his role in the alleged sex trafficking of minors. However, as he is reportedly residing in the US illegally, he is also expected to face deportation proceedings on completion of his sentence.

The case came to light on January 6, 2025, when the Omaha Police Department began investigating what was initially reported as a theft. However, authorities later determined that the incident was linked to a sex trafficking operation. Following the discovery, the Homeland Security Task Force and the Omaha Police Department launched a joint investigation and rescued two minor girls, aged 15 and 16, who had allegedly been transported from another state to an Omaha hotel for commercial sexual exploitation.

The two minor females reported that traffickers had blackmailed them to engage in sex with hotel staff for a reduced room rate or they would be kicked out of the hotel. Two hotel employees paid the trafficker to have sex with one of the minors and a third hotel employee had sex with the other minor, the report cited.

Patel, a 27-year-old employee of the AmericInn hotel, admitted that he used hotel funds to pay traffickers in exchange for sex with one of the minor victims at the property. Following the investigation, US Federal Court Judge Joseph F Bataillon sentenced Patel on two counts related to the sex trafficking of a minor. In addition to the 10-year prison sentence, he is also expected to face deportation proceedings upon completing his sentence, as he was residing in the United States illegally.

The investigation later reportedly uncovered what authorities described as a broader network allegedly involving several Gujarati-origin hotel operators in Omaha, Nebraska. Patel was reportedly among six individuals charged in the case, including two other hotel employees Sumit Choudhary and Vishal Goswami, who remain in custody. The AmericInn hotel is owned by Gujarati businessman Ketan Choudhary and his wife Falguni Choudhary. The couple was arrested later in 2025 after federal agencies conducted raids at four Nebraska hotels allegedly linked to them.

According to investigators, traffickers used online advertisements to arrange commercial sex acts at the hotels, while victims were allegedly subjected to coercive conditions, provided limited food, and threatened to ensure compliance, as per reports.