Thread: Buffet Owner Pleads Guilty To Hiring Illegal Immigrants

http://wcpo.com/news/2007/local/01/11/bees.html

A Fairfield restaurant owner has pleaded guilty to hiring illegal workers.

Prosecutors said Jing Fei Jiang had illegal immigrants living with him and working in his restaurant, Bee's Buffet.

On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to four charges, including lying on a small business loan.

Jiang has also been living in the United States illegally and was supposed to deported 10 years ago.

Buffet Owner, 11 Others Arrested In Immigration Raid

http://wcpo.com/news/2006/local/06/05/ice.html

Federal officials arrested 12 suspected illegal immigrants, including a restaurant owner, in Fairfield Monday.

Ten of the arrests were made around 9 a.m. at a home at 5775 David Place by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE.

Neighbors told 9News they had no idea so many people were living in the home.

One of the people arrested is Jing Jiang, the owner of Bee's Buffet in Fairfield, a well-known Chinese restaurant in the area.

He owned the home where the arrests were made and had recently bought a new car, 9News learned.

"You assume with the business, the mortgage on the home, he just got a new car, you assume that if he illegal, how could he do all of this," said neighbor and Fairfield city council member Steve Miller.

Eight of those arrested were from China and the other two were from Mexico, Price reports. Some worked at Bee's Buffet.

The bust came after nine months of federal investigations.

Agents began investigating Bee's Buffet in October 2005 after they suspected illegal immigrants worked there.

Jiang was ordered to leave the country in 1990, officials told 9News. He did not leave and has apparently been living here illegally ever since.

Two others were arrested at the restaurant later on Monday.

All 12 were taken to the federal building in downtown Cincinnati where they are being fingerprinted, interviewed and processed.

Prior to possible deportation, all would have federal court hearings.

http://www.oxfordpress.com/news/content ... ngweb.html

Breaking News
Bee's owner pleads guilty in federal court

By Staff Report

Thursday, January 11, 2007

CINCINNATI – Jing Fei Jiang, the owner of Bee's Buffet restaurant in Fairfield, pled guilty in United States District Court today to one count each of inducing, transporting and harboring an illegal alien to work in his restaurant. Jiang, 37, also pled guilty to making a false statement on an application for a small business loan.

Each of the three counts connected with employment of an illegal alien carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000. Making a false statement on a small business loan carries a maximum possible sentence of 30 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $1 million.

Gregory G. Lockhart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Brian M. Moskowitz, special agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Detroit announced the plea entered today before Senior United States District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel.

According to a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Jiang illegally employed a number of unauthorized aliens to work in his Chinese restaurant beginning as early as Oct. 13, 2005, and continuing until at least June 5, 2006. In addition to employing unauthorized aliens, Jiang also housed them in a residence he owned in Fairfield, and would transport the alien workers to the restaurant in a vehicle he owned.

Jiang himself has been residing in the United States without authorization since he was ordered deported more than ten years ago, although he thereafter filed an application for asylum.

Jiang applied for a loan from the Small Business Administration on March 28, 2005 and falsely indicated on the application that he was a U.S. citizen, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Jiang also agreed to forfeit $100,000 in lieu of the real property formerly known as Bee's Buffet, approximately $179,397 in cash seized from a safe in Jiang's residence, all items of value seized from a safe deposit box Jiang rented including $150,050 in cash, the contents of three bank accounts, and a 2004 GMC Yukon XL.

Jiang faces deportation after he serves his prison time. Senior Judge Spiegel set Jiang's sentencing hearing for April 12.

ICE special agents from the Cincinnati office, assisted by the Fairfield Police Department, executed federal search warrants at Jiang's residence and place of business on June 5 and arrested Jiang. He's been in custody since his arrest.

Restaurant owner sentenced in illegal alien case
Business Courier of Cincinnati - 4:42 PM EDT Tuesday, August 28, 2007
The owner of a Fairfield restaurant drew a prison sentence of one year and one day for hiring illegal aliens, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio said Tuesday.

Jing Fei Jiang, owner of Bee's Buffet, pleaded guilty in January to one count each of inducing, transporting and harboring an illegal alien. He was also fined $3,000 and ordered to either forfeit the restaurant property to the United States or raise $100,000 within 30 days in lieu of forfeiture.

In addition, Jiang, who is in the United States illegally as well, faces deportation after serving his sentence.

Jiang said in a statement filed with the plea agreement that he employed illegal immigrants at his Nilles Road restaurant between October 2005 until at least June 2006. He also housed them in a Fairfield residence that he owned, and drove them to work at the restaurant.

Agents from the Cincinnati office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the home in June 2006, arresting Jiang and several Chinese and Mexican nationals who were living there.

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