Avanibahen Patel, Unlawful Employment of Aliens, West Virginia 2025

BECKLEY, W.Va. - A Greenbrier County woman has been sentenced for her role in a scheme to employ an illegal alien.

Avanibahen Patel, 44, of Ronceverte, was sentenced to six months of federal probation for unlawful employment of aliens.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from November 2020 through at least September 2024, Aakash Prakash Makwana, 30, a citizen of India unlawfully residing in Ronceverte, was employed at a Fairlea business owned and operated by Patel and her husband.

Makwana assisted with running the daily business during the time period. Patel admitted that she and her husband agreed to hire Makwana knowing that he was living in the United States illegally after his immigration visa expired.

Patel’s husband, Rajesh N. Patel, 51, of Ronceverte, was sentenced on January 9, 2025, to three years of federal probation and fined $10,000 after pleading guilty to knowingly transporting an illegal alien.

United States Attorney Moore Capito made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

United States Magistrate Judge Omar J. Aboulhosn imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan T. Storage prosecuted the case, as part of a special unit within the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia focused on the immigration enforcement objectives of Operation Take Back America.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdwv/pr/greenbrier-county-woman-sentenced-immigration-crime