By Dan Scanlan

Posted Oct 3, 2018 at 3:04 PM
Updated Oct 3, 2018 at 9:54 PM

The husband and wife owners of a Jacksonville restaurant pleaded guilty to harboring illegal aliens for commercial advantage and private financial gain, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Now 35-year-old Min Lin and 46-year-old He Ying Qiu each face up to 10 years in federal prison when sentenced, prosecutors said.

The couple operates Sushi House 2 at 10261 River Marsh Drive, according to their plea agreements. The federal investigation began after a tip was called in to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in January, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. That’s when federal agents began investigating whether employees were being transported in a van driven by Qiu between the Sushi House and two homes by Lin, prosecutors said.

On Jan. 29 sheriff’s officers stopped the van as it left the restaurant, finding Qiu and Lin driving four passengers who appeared to be illegal aliens, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. On June 5 agents executed search warrants at the Sushi House and a home owned by Lin just before police again stopped Qiu in the van with two illegal alien passengers. Two more illegal aliens were found in the home by agents. All were the same ones in the van during the January police stop.

All said they worked at the Sushi House and were paid in cash, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. They also said they lived rent-free in the home, and that neither Lin nor Qiu asked them to provide paperwork showing they were legal in the United States.

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20...igrant-charges