On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that five run-of-the-mill Nebraska men were arrested for running a human trafficking ring out of local hotels.
United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that five people were charged by complaint for a range of federal violations that center around their alleged conspiracy to engage in labor trafficking, sex trafficking, and harboring of aliens at several hotel locations across the Omaha metro area and into central Nebraska. The defendants own, operate and manage several hotels in the Omaha metro area located at the following locations where federal search warrants were executed in the early morning hours of August 12, 2025:
The AmericInn, 2920 S 13 Ct., Omaha;
The Inn (formerly Super 8), 9305 S 145th St., Omaha;
The New Victorian, 10728 L St., Omaha; and
Roadway Inn, 1110 Fort Crook Rd S, Bellevue, NE.
The five Nebraska men from Nebraska with very Nebraskan names were identified as:
Kentakumar Chaudhari, a/k/a Ken Chaudhari, age 36, of Elkhorn, NE;
Rashmi Ajit Samani, a/k/a Falguni Samani, age 42, of Elkhorn, NE:;
Amit Prahladbhai Chaudhari, a/k/a Amit, age 32, of Omaha;
Amit Babubhai Chaudhari, a/k/a Matt, age 33, of Omaha; and
Maheshkumar Chaudhari, a/k/a Mahesh, age 38, of Norfolk, NE.
Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers conducted a search of 14 premises, including homes and several "Brow and Lash" salons associated with the men.
During the operation, law enforcement officers rescued 10 minors from an alleged labor trafficking conspiracy that involved putting children under the age of twelve years old to work at the hotels for long hours with little to no pay. Seventeen adult victims were also rescued from the same conspiracy.
The US Attorney's Office says at least one of the defendants were running a sex trafficking operation that sold both children and adults into prostitution. Sex trafficking was "not only allowed at the hotels ... but also encouraged." Prosecutors say hotel management and employees sexually abused the victims personally, as well as selling their victims out to others.
Drugs were also openly used and sold at the hotels, according to officials.
In addition, one of these Nebraska men has been charged with visa fraud, allegedly trying to obtain U visas, special permissions that allow foreigners to remain in the United States as witnesses to a crime.
The DOJ did not give a reason for why these average Nebraska men would be involved in a conspiracy to allow foreigners to illegally remain in the United States.
... one of the defendants engaged in conversations involving questions about what it would cost to bring someone from India to America and negotiating various prices. A number of hotel employees crossed the Arizona border several years ago and reported to Customs and Border Patrol they would be residing at one or more of the defendant's hotels, thereby indicating those arrangements were made prior to entering the country illegally.
Could it be that these Nebraskan men aren't actually from Nebraska?
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