Federal court records unsealed this week are providing the clearest picture yet of why investigators spent months building a case against the owners and operators of two Mobile-area motels, whose indictment in October swept up dozens of other defendants in what prosecutors called the Crossley Hills Drug Trafficking Organization.
Three search warrant applications, though heavily redacted, correspond to the addresses of the Regency Inn in Tillman’s Corner, the Star Motel in Prichard, and a residential property connected to Paresh Patel, one of the co-conspirators named in the indictment. While the names of the properties are blacked out in most of the filings, the details described in the accompanying probable cause affidavit closely track the allegations investigators laid out during a press conference the day the indictment became public.
According to the newly released records, the investigation began after the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force received a tip about a possible human-trafficking operation. Agents watching the 30-room Star Motel at 1085 S. Bessemer Ave. in Prichard reported frequent, heavy vehicle traffic in and out of the property’s enclosed parking lot late into the night, often continuing past 2 a.m.
An undercover investigation at the Star Motel documented a steady rotation of one-hour room rentals. Investigators said the rooms had pornography playing continuously on the televisions and that the front office sold condoms for $2 each. When an undercover officer tried to rent a room for a full night, a motel representative allegedly declined, saying the business made more money renting rooms by the hour than it would from an overnight stay.
Investigators also said they recovered drug paraphernalia from the motel’s trash and found that emergency dispatchers had logged 22 calls for service to the address between March 2018 and March 2020, including one tied to a fatal overdose on Feb. 23, 2019.
At the much larger Regency Inn, located at 5488 Inn Road in Tillman’s Corner, agents appear to have developed a confidential witness who had worked at the property for more than six years. That witness told investigators the hotel’s owners were aware of ongoing drug use and prostitution on site but did little to address it, according to the affidavit.
At one point, the owners allegedly hired an armed constable who held a law enforcement commission in Mobile County to provide security at the property. Instead, according to the affidavit, the constable became enmeshed in the criminal activity himself, renting out his own room to prostitutes and having sex with them. The hotel fired him after about four months and never hired a replacement, investigators said.
A second witness described dangerous working conditions at the Regency Inn tied to the criminal activity, including exposure to discarded needles, while a third witness corroborated much of the account and suggested the owners’ primary concern was collecting rental income from the property regardless of what was happening inside it. Investigators said the building deteriorated over time to the point that only 16 of its 98 rooms remained operational.
In August and September of 2019, FBI agents ran two undercover operations at the Regency Inn, attempting to blend into the property’s culture by posing as operators of their own trafficking scheme. The affidavit does not detail everything agents observed, but it states that staff did not require identification to rent rooms, that rooms were available at hourly rates, and that rooms were not cleaned between rentals.
During the undercover work, an agent allegedly spoke with the same constable, who admitted to running his own prostitution operation out of the hotel and offered to let the agent rent rooms directly using his master key to the property.
Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran, who has previously voiced frustration over the limited oversight of elected constables, said constables do not answer to the sheriff’s office. “There is no oversight of them but for the electors,” Cochran said.
Records show 368 calls for service were placed to 911 from the Regency Inn between January 2018 and January 2020. Two of those calls involved fatal overdoses, and four more involved overdoses in which the victims survived. Roughly 50 calls were related to controlled substances and 36 to prostitution, while 13 involved a firearm being brandished. The remaining calls involved trespassing, violence or domestic violence, and property crimes, according to the affidavit.
A separate section of the application examines the finances of the properties’ owners and operators. The Regency Inn was registered under a corporation called Shiv Sai of Tillman Corner Inc., while the Star Motel was registered under KMK Hospitality Inc. Paresh Patel is listed in connection with both companies in probate and state business records.
Patel was charged alongside Jaikumar Patel and Mitesh Desai with maintaining a drug-involved premises. All three have pleaded not guilty, and their trial had initially been scheduled for June 1, 2021. If convicted, they face potential prison terms of up to 20 years and fines of up to $500,000 under federal sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors have also signaled they may pursue forfeiture of property connected to the case.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the investigation remains active and that some details cannot yet be disclosed. He confirmed the Regency Inn has since been closed by its owners, while the Star Motel was believed to still be operating.
James Davis, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, confirmed the investigation remains active and said certain details cannot yet be disclosed while it proceeds.
Attorney Jeff Deen, who represents Jaikumar Patel, has pushed back on the allegations, saying his client held only a minor ownership stake in the Regency Inn and was primarily involved as an investor looking to purchase distressed properties, renovate them, and resell them for a profit. “We will contest all criminal liability responsive to the indictment,” Deen said.
Asked about the affidavit, Deen responded with a line from Shakespeare: “There is a written scroll! I’ll read the writing. All that glitters is not gold; Often have you heard that told: Fare you well; your suit is cold.”
The case remains pending in federal court, and additional hearings are expected as prosecutors and defense attorneys prepare for trial.