A Worcester man was sentenced in federal court after prosecutors said he paid to pose as the victim of a staged armed robbery, part of a scheme designed to help participants fraudulently seek immigration benefits.
Mitul Patel, 40, an Indian national who federal authorities said was living unlawfully in Worcester, was sentenced to time served—one day in custody—and fined $1,000 by U.S. District Court Judge Myong Joun. He was also ordered removed from the United States, according to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
Patel pleaded guilty in June after he and 10 others were charged in March in connection with a conspiracy involving staged robberies at convenience stores, liquor stores and fast-food restaurants.
Federal prosecutors said the scheme was intended to create the appearance that participants had been victims of violent crimes so they could seek U nonimmigrant status, commonly known as a U visa. The status is available to victims of certain crimes who have suffered physical or mental abuse and assist law enforcement in investigating or prosecuting criminal activity.
According to federal charging documents, the scheme started in March 2023 and involved at least six businesses in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
During the staged incidents, a person posing as a robber would threaten store clerks with what appeared to be a firearm, take money from the register and flee while surveillance cameras recorded the encounter, prosecutors alleged. Clerks would wait until the purported robber had escaped before calling police and reporting the incident as a crime.
Prosecutors allege participants paid organizer Rambhai Patel to take part, while store owners were in turn paid to allow their businesses to be used for the staged robberies.
Mitul Patel paid to participate as a purported victim in a staged robbery at a Worcester store in October 2023, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Rambhai Patel, along with the person prosecutors identified as the purported robber and getaway driver Balwinder Singh, were previously charged and convicted in May 2025.
The investigation involved the FBI, federal immigration agencies, Massachusetts State Police, the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office and numerous local police departments, including Worcester police.
Federal prosecutors noted that allegations contained in charging documents against defendants whose cases remain unresolved have not been proven in court, and those defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
