A South Carolina convenience store owner has pleaded guilty to helping stage a fake robbery so an Indian store clerk could appear to be a crime victim and seek a U visa, though the clerk was later deported to India, the Justice Department said. Birenkumar Rameshbhai Patel, 47, of Columbia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to illegally obtain a U visa, a pathway designed to provide qualifying crime victims with temporary legal status, a path to lawful permanent residency, and eventually U.S. citizenship. Federal prosecutors stated that Patel and the clerk staged the incident at Patel’s Fairfield County convenience store on March 9, 2025, with Patel covering his face and wearing a long-sleeved jacket to simulate an armed robbery before a 911 call led to police response and hospital transport for the clerk.
Investigation and Eventual Deportation:
Subsequent federal investigations revealed that the robbery was entirely fabricated to manufacture official evidence supporting the clerk’s fraudulent U visa application. The clerk had entered the United States unlawfully on September 18, 2024, and was already undergoing active deportation proceedings at the time of the staged crime, with a critical immigration hearing scheduled just four days later on March 13. Despite the scheme, the plan failed, and the individual was ultimately deported back to India. The Justice Department withheld the clerk’s identity, referring to him as “C1” in court documents, and did not specify whether he faces separate criminal charges.
