Ohio Restaurant Owners, Managers Indicted for Employing Undocumented Workers
Author: Melissa A. Silver, XpertHR Legal Editor
December 18, 2013
As a result of a joint investigation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the US Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, six owners and managers of the Ohio Mariachi Locos and Mariachi Cocos restaurant chain are subject to a 23-count indictment for their practice of hiring illegal workers.
According to a press release, the owners and managers "engaged in the practice of hiring undocumented workers who were illegally present in the United States and conspired to shield these workers from detection by paying them in cash, excluding them from payrolls, leasing housing for the workers and aiding the workers in obtaining fraudulent work documentation." Further, according to the indictment, the undocumented workers were paid less than minimum wage and were not paid for the hours they worked overtime. The indictment also alleges that the owners and managers sometimes paid these workers only in the tips the workers received from their customers. Two of the individuals are also charged with making false statements to federal law enforcement officers.
Steven Dettelbach, US Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, stated that "[t]he owners and managers of these restaurants took advantage of their workers' immigration status for their own profit." As a result, the indictment also seeks the forfeiture of $16.47 million the individuals generated in gross proceeds stemming from their alleged illegal hiring practices.
These indictments confirm ICE's commitment to its worksite enforcement strategy that prioritizes the use of criminal prosecutions against employers that do the following:
- Use unauthorized workers as a business model;
- Mistreat their workers;
- Engage in human smuggling or trafficking;
- Engage in identity and benefit fraud;
- Launder money; or
- Participate in other criminal conduct.