OMAHA, Neb, May 5, 2026— A 27-year-old Indian national from Gujarat has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in the sex trafficking of two minor girls at an Omaha hotel, federal authorities announced.
Kavankumar Patel was sentenced on May 26 by Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon on two counts of sex trafficking of a minor, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nebraska. Following his prison term, Patel will serve five years of supervised release. Federal officials said he is expected to face deportation after completing his sentence because he was in the United States illegally.
The case began on January 6, 2025, when officers with the Omaha Police Department responded to a report of a theft at the AmericInn hotel on South 13th Court. During their investigation, officers discovered signs of human trafficking, prompting a joint investigation by the Omaha Police Department and the Homeland Security Task Force.
Authorities said two girls, ages 15 and 16, had been brought to Omaha from another state and were being sold for commercial sex at the hotel.
According to prosecutors, the girls told investigators that their traffickers instructed them to engage in sexual acts with hotel employees in exchange for reduced room rates and warned that they would be kicked out if they refused.
Patel, who worked at the hotel, admitted that he used money from the hotel cash register to pay traffickers for sex with one of the minors, court records show.
Federal authorities said two hotel employees paid traffickers to have sex with one of the girls, while a third employee had sex with the other victim. Prosecutors alleged that hotel employees then allowed the traffickers and the minors to remain at the property for several days while online advertisements were used to arrange commercial sex acts involving the girls.
Investigators said the victims reported having little food and feeling they had no choice but to comply with the traffickers’ demands.
“The United States Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will never tire of working as hard as we need to work to protect the most vulnerable victims in our communities,” U.S. Attorney Lesley Woods said in a statement.
Woods said the Homeland Security Task Force rescued the girls and urged anyone with knowledge or suspicion of human trafficking to report it to state or federal law enforcement.
The case was investigated by the Homeland Security Task Force, a multi-agency partnership that includes Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Omaha Police Department.
