The Tax Times: Pleading Guilty to Tax Crimes, Can Cause You to Lose Your Visa or Green Card

According to Law360, a Connecticut federal judge denied a man's attempt to vacate his guilty plea for tax evasion, despite accepting that his lawyers had misled him into believing that if he received no prison time he could avoid mandatory detention and likely deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Vishal Dhar's former attorneys didn't testify under oath against his claim that they told him he could avoid deportation if he received noncustodial incarceration, but the attorneys did tell him he faced deportation for pleading guilty to an aggravated felony, according to an order issued on April 16, 2025. Dhar's former attorneys, Scott Ahroni and Kurt Erskine of Polsinelli PC, warned him as early as November 2023 that he faced deportation for tax evasion above $10,000, according to the order by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill, who sentenced Dhar to a year in federal custody in October.

Dhar, who is from India, became a U.S. legal permanent resident in 2007, the order said.

He now faces mandatory detention by ICE pending an order for his deportation after he is released from federal custody, potentially extending his original one-year sentence beyond two years since he's not eligible to reduce his sentence with time served, his new attorney said in a motion from January.

Dhar alleged that his original attorneys advised him that he would only be deported if he received a custodial incarceration sentence, according to the order. The Polsinelli attorneys objected to these allegations in an unsworn statement, but not under oath, so Judge Underhill accepted Dhar's account as accurate, according to the order.

"Polsinelli's assistance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness when they allegedly advised Dhar that 'deportation would likely only happen' if Dhar received a custodial incarceration sentence," Judge Underhill said.

To prove ineffective counsel requires not only showing the attorneys performed below a reasonable norm for their profession, but that their performance was prejudicial against their client's defense, according to the order. In this case, Dhar argued he would not have pled guilty and would have insisted on going to trial, according to the order.

Yet Dhar inaccurately claimed that he was only made aware of the deportation consequences of his conviction after sentencing, according to the order. This doesn't line up with the evidence in his communications with Polsinelli, the plea agreement, the sentencing memorandum and his own statements at the plea hearing, which all suggest he was fully aware that his guilty plea could result in deportation, the order said.

"Dhar Made The Decision To Plead Guilty Fully Aware
That Being Deported Was A Likely Consequence Of His Plea," Judge Underhill Said.

Dhar also claimed that he was prejudiced by Polsinelli not explaining the consequences of his immigration status to Judge Underhill during his sentencing hearing, according to the order.

"Polsinelli's failure to bring the relevant statutes to my attention did not prejudice Dhar because it did not impact my intent to sentence Dhar to a term of custodial incarceration," Judge Underhill said. "My underlying reasoning in sentencing Dhar is entirely separate from any immigration consequences he may face, including being placed in ICE custody and eventually deported."

Dhar was sentenced in October to just over a year in federal prison after pleading guilty to evading over $272,000 in taxes from 2013 through 2023, an amount that he paid prior to his sentencing, according to court filings. He operated three business entities, including Grey Brown Inc., a holding company for a restaurant chain called Oaxaca Taqueria, as well as NY Cloud Kitchens LLC and West Partners Inc., according to court filings.

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