Indian American Vipal J. Patel Named Acting United States Attorney for Southern District of Ohio

Former First Assistant United States Attorney Vipal J. Patel has been named as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, the Department of Justice announced on March 1. The Southern District of Ohio includes Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati and the rest of the southern half of the state.

Patel, 53, a longtime resident of Dayton, became an Assistant United States Attorney in 2000. He previously served in the U.S. Attorney Office’s criminal, civil and appellate divisions. 

Patel was named First Assistant United States Attorney in April 2016 under former U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman and was retained in that position by fellow former U.S. Attorney David M. DeVillers, the DOJ press release said. Prior to his time as first assistant, Patel served the district as a Deputy Criminal Chief and as the district’s Criminal Chief, “filling management roles under both Republican- and Democrat-appointed U.S. Attorneys and Attorneys General,” the press release said.

“These are huge shoes to fill, and I am humbled and honored to fill them,” Patel said. “The important work of the public servants in this Office – and their dedication to justice – continues. Our casework will persist uninterrupted.”

Patel was the lead prosecutor in the first ever international terrorism trial in the Southern District of Ohio in 2018, both prosecuting the case and successfully arguing its appeal, according to June 13, 2019 DOJ press release.

He also represented the United States in the prosecution of weapons-related charges against,  Ethan Kollie, 24, of Kettering, a friend of the Dayton mass shooter Connor Betts. Kollie pleaded guilty to the crimes in November 2019, a Feb. 20, 2020 DOJ press release said.

In other significant casework, Patel prosecuted a local child exploiter who abused an infant, young child, and numerous teenage girls. The defendant was sentenced to life plus 10 years in prison.July 26, 2018

Patel has taught as an Adjunct Professor at University of Dayton School of Law since 2008. In 2011, he took a leave of absence from UD Law to serve a one-year anti-corruption and counter-narcotics Rule of Law assignment in Afghanistan, working as a civilian United States Department of Justice advisor to the Afghan Ministry of Justice, Judiciary and other governmental and educational institutions, according to his profile on UD Law website.

In March 2015, Patel taught a one-week anti-money laundering course in the Republic of Georgia, as part of the Department of Justice’s Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training program. In addition to UD Law, Patel teaches periodically at the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Center, in Columbia, South Carolina. 

Patel received his law degree in 1991 from the George Washington University Law School. 

In his spare time, he enjoys coaching youth soccer. He is currently the Head Coach of the Kroc Center Soccer Club’s boys U11 team, part of a new club soccer program Patel helped found with a friend and in partnership with the Dayton Salvation Army in an effort to bring competitive club soccer to, and serve the needs of, inner-city Dayton.

Patel immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1970 and became a naturalized citizen in 1981. He and his wife have two children and reside in downtown Dayton and enjoy (ever slowing) walks along the river with their nearly 15-year-old rescue dog, “Frankie.”