Indian-Origin Hotel Staff Jailed for Trading Cheaper Room Rates for Sex Trafficked Minors in Nebraska

A 27-year-old Indian national has been sentenced to 10 years in a United States federal prison for paying human traffickers to sexually assault a minor girl. Kavankumar Patel, originally a resident of Gujarat, India, was working at a hotel in Omaha, Nebraska, when the incident occurred in January 2025.

The case unfolded on January 6, 2025, when local police responding to a theft report uncovered  evidence of an active sex trafficking operation. Officials from the Omaha Police Department and the Homeland Security Task Force acted swiftly to recover two minor girls, aged 15 and 16, who had been brought into Nebraska from another state to be sold for commercial sex.

Federal investigation revealed that the young victims were subjected to severe deprivation, reporting that they were given very little food and felt they had no choice but to engage in sexual acts as directed by their traffickers. The traffickers actively posted online advertisements for commercial sex and arranged the encounters involving the minors.

The exploitation carried on further when the victims were brought to the AmericInn hotel where Patel was employed. The teenagers reported that their traffickers explicitly instructed them to engage in sexual acts with the hotel staff in exchange for a reduced room rate, warning them that they would otherwise be kicked out of the hotel.

Legal proceedings and arrest

Upon arrest, Patel admitted to federal authorities that he went into the hotel's cash drawer to take money to pay the traffickers so he could assault one of the minors at the facility. According to the US Attorney's Office, two hotel employees paid the traffickers to have sex with one of the underage girls, while a third employee assaulted the other minor victim. In exchange for these acts and payments, the hotel staff permitted the traffickers and the minors to remain on the premises for multiple days.

The investigation has led to broader legal action against the network. The traffickers—identified as Eduardo Jose Perdomo, Michel Martinez-Gonzalez, and Alfredo Zambrano-Hurtado—have been charged. Additionally, two other Indian-origin hotel employees, Sumit Chaudhari and Vishal Goswami, face federal charges for their involvement in the exploitation.

Additionally, according to a statement released on Thursday by the US Attorney's Office in Nebraska, Patel was residing in the United States illegally and will face immediate deportation upon the completion of his prison sentence.

United States Attorney Lesley Woods commended the law enforcement efforts, stating that the Homeland Security Task Force successfully rescued the children from what she described as a living nightmare.

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