Former Brattleboro Hotel Owner Sentenced for Fraud and Employment of Illegal Aliens

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Gurdeep Nagra, 39, a Canadian citizen and native of India who has been residing in Brattleboro, Vermont, was sentenced on May 7, 2009 in United States District Court to four months imprisonment, three years of supervised release, including four months home confinement, and a $10,000 fine for conspiracy to make false statements to obtain a bank loan and for employing illegal aliens.

Mr. Nagra was indicted on October 18, 2007 on charges of employment and harboring of illegal aliens and making false statements in his application for residency in the United States. On January 31, 2008, Mr. Nagra, along with co-defendant Sanderson Pinheiro, was charged in a Superseding Indictment with employing and harboring illegal aliens and making false statements in his application for residency in the United States.

On October 2, 2008, Mr. Nagra pled guilty to an Information charging him with conspiracy to make false statements to obtain a bank loan and employing illegal aliens. The false statements charge related to Mr. Nagra’s signing of two contracts and the use of a double set of invoices (the lower priced contract setting the price Mr. Nagra and his partners paid for construction and the higher price being submitted to the bank for the construction loan) in the construction of the Hampton Inn in Brattleboro, Vermont and the use of inflated receipts in obtaining refinancing for the Quality Inn, also in Brattleboro, Vermont. The employment of alien charges related to the use of a cleaning crew for the hotels. The crew was largely or completely made up of illegal aliens. Mr. Nagra admitted knowing the employees were illegally in the United States. In addition to working at the hotels, they also resided in a lower quality section of the Quality Inn.

The sentencing concluded proceedings on the fraud and employment of aliens allegations but the Court’s action did not resolve Mr. Nagra’s immigration status, which will be litigated separately after his release from prison.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Mr. Nagra is represented by Lisa Shelkrot, Esq. of Langrock Sperry & Wool, LLP and the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Gelber.