BATON ROUGE — After his arrest earlier this month, Oakdale Ward V Marshal Michael “Freck” Slaney resigned from his position in a letter dated July 22nd. Slaney was one of five people, including three other law enforcement officers and a businessman, charged with dozens of conspiracy and fraud charges. Among the charges: conspiracy, immigration fraud, robbery, mail fraud and money laundering.
A federal grand jury in Shreveport returned a 62-count indictment, charging Forest Hill Police Chief Glynn Dixon, Oakdale Police Chief Chad Doyle, Oakdale City Marshal Michael “Freck” Slaney, former Glenmora Police Chief Tebo Onishea, and businessman Chandrakant Patel.
Slaney submitted his resignation letter to Secretary of State Nancy Landry on July 22, saying his resignation was effective immediately. A special election must be called within 20 days of his position’s vacancy, an attorney for the Office of the Secretary of State wrote in a letter to the city of Oakdale.
Earlier this month, two police chiefs, Dixon & Doyle, were arrested from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Baton Rouge while they were attending the annual Louisiana Police Chiefs conference.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, Alec Van Hook, announced the indictment in a press conference Wednesday morning. The indictment alleges the defendants fraudulently obtained, or assisted in obtaining “U nonimmigrant visas.” These visas are authorized by Congress, and allow foreign nationals without any official status in the United States to remain in the country under certain circumstances when they’re victims of crime or witnesses to crime. The purpose is for them to be able to help officers or through the court proceedings providing details on the crime they either witnessed or were a victim of.
“In this case, the indictment alleges that Patel, Doyle, Slaney, Dixon, Onishea, and others produced and authenticated false police reports in several central Louisiana parishes,” Van Hook explained. “Each report listed several victims of reported armed robberies in central Louisiana, and the defendants produced false police reports so the purported victims of the robberies could apply for U visas.”
Van Hook said there was an unusual concentration of armed robberies of people who were not from Louisiana, and the armed robberies never happened.
“These people would pay Mr. Patel, but he would in turn pay Doyle, Slaney, Dixon, and Onisha to create false police reports so that fraudulent visa applications could be submitted to the United States government,” Van Hook said.
“The indictment alleges that Patel paid the law enforcement officers $5,000 for each foreign national placed on the law enforcement report,” said Van Hook. “The U Visa Program allows not only the victim of the crime or the witness of a crime to remain in the United States, it also allows their family members to remain the United States. So we have an application it could involve several people. So the money that was paid to the corrupt law enforcement agents was significant.”
“This enormous case is very impactful”
Eric DeLaune, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Louisiana, said this indictment has been a long time coming.
“This case started for us over a year ago with some very diligent and hardworking HSI special agents here in Lafayette, Louisiana,” Agent DeLaune said. “They received a tip from Citizenship and Immigration Services, and they were concerned about visa fraud shortly thereafter. My agents brought on the FBI and the IRS to continue to investigate, and they dug in, and with the help of the U.S. attorney’s office, they were able to field this case.”
Agent Jonathan Tapp is the special agent in charge of the New Orleans field office.
“We expect law enforcement officers to protect the public and to honor their trust, not to sell that trust and the honor of their badges for personal gain,” Agent Tapp said. “The FBI will continue to work diligently to uncover the actions of those who undermine the public’s trust and the good work being done every day by the brave men and women of law enforcement.”
“These unsealed indictments announced today send a clear message that whether you carry a badge or business license, those who engage in criminal activities will be held accountable,” said Special Agent Demetrius Hardeman, who is in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in the Atlanta field office. “In addition to the businessman, four of the defendants are law enforcement officers who are entrusted to uphold the principles and values expected of those who carry a badge. When a businessman becomes the architect of a criminal scheme and law enforcement officials help carry it out, public trust erodes at every level.”
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