Sorrento grocer gets prison in illegal-immigrant check-cashing scheme
County Sheriff's Office By Stephen Hudak, Orlando Sentinel

August 30, 2010

The former owner of the Sorrento Grocery, who admitted cashing payroll checks for undocumented workers during the construction boom in Lake County, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison.

From 2004 through 2008, Andrew Lemine, 54, of Paisley cashed more than $4 million in payroll checks from J. Trubenbach Construction, knowing that the owners of the company had directed undocumented workers on their payroll to his small grocery, located at the intersection of State Road 46 and County Road 437.

Federal authorities said the construction company, now defunct, wanted to hide the workers' illegal status and avoid paying workers compensation and employment taxes. Lemine earned a fee for each check he cashed.

Though his illegal earnings were never fully disclosed, Lemine was forced by prosecutors to forfeit $690,000 from a business account. The funds were deemed to be proceeds from illegal money transmitting.

Lemine, who no longer owns the grocery in Sorrento, did not require check-cashers to provide photo IDs, fingerprints or other routine security measures that licensed money-transmitters are required by law to follow.

He pleaded guilty earlier this year to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, a federal offense investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Lemine also admitted he cashed 97 Trubenbach checks for $53,475 that were made out to "Lando Munez," a fictitious person. The name translates literally to "land money" and the cash was used for a real-estate investment.

Lemine's plea agreement includes a clause that could reduce his sentence if federal prosecutors decide that his cooperation in other investigations qualifies as "substantial assistance" to law enforcement.

U.S. District Court Judge William Terrell Hodges allwed the defense to file a sentencing memorandum in confidence to protect the grocer's cooperation with authorities. Prosecutors said secrecy was needed to protect active investigations.

Stephen Hudak can be reached at shudak@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5930.
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