Travelodge hotel on North Coast Highway in Oceanside CA, USA, United States
An April 18, 2011 federal indictment says that Hitesh Vinod Patel, age 27, and his father, Vinod N. Patel, age 60, acting on behalf of Gayatri Investments LLC, helped and allowed members and associates of a criminal enterprise to rent rooms for prostitution at the Travelodge hotel on North Coast Highway in Oceanside. According to the indictment, the Patels arranged to have the participants housed in specific areas and rooms within the hotel so that they were segregated from legitimate customers. According to the indictment, the Patels charged --- and the defendants paid higher room rates --- in exchange for permitting the prostitution activities to be conducted at the Travelodge.The Patels are also accused of warning members and associates of the enterprise about law enforcement activity or inquiries. The operation was run by the Oceanside Crips gang, which included three different gang "sets," authorities said. The sets -- the Insane Crip Gang; Deep Valley Crips; and Crook, Mob, Gangsters -- who have been rivals in the past, worked together to run the prostitution operation, according to U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy. Six others, all women, were charged as associates of the criminal enterprise. The indictment targets not only pimps, but also women known as "bottoms," who federal prosecutors said are the most senior and trusted prostitutes, who help recruit and rein in the junior girls. U.S. Atttorney Laura E. Duffy said prostitutes caught up in the operation were often "traded like property" and beaten by their pimps if they did not do as they were told. Michael Carney, Acting Special Agent in Charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego, said the victims and the gang members were primarily U.S. citizens. An indictment is not evidence the defendants are guilty of the crimes charged. The defendants are presumed by the law to be innocent of the charges until the Government proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.