Fired Dallas FBI agent hired illegal immigrants at Schlotzsky's in Rockwall, government says

03:14 PM CDT on Thursday, August 19, 2010
By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News
jtrahan@dallasnews.com

A former Dallas FBI agent is expected to plead guilty next week to federal charges that for 11 years she used illegal immigrants to staff a Schlotzsky's restaurant she owns in Rockwall.

Ann Cox was fired by the FBI after the U.S. attorney's office filed a misdemeanor charge on July 28 accusing her of employing six illegal immigrants from 1997 to 2008.

"While operating the deli, Cox engaged in a pattern and practice of hiring and employing aliens in the United States while knowing that they were unauthorized for such employment," court documents show.

Cox has filed paperwork admitting the allegations, and is expected to plead guilty before U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater in Dallas on Aug. 27. Cox’s husband is also an FBI agent but is not involved in the case, authorities say.

Cox is charged with misdemeanor unlawful employment of aliens, which can carry six months in prison and a $3,000 fine for each illegal hiring. If the judge accepts Cox's plea agreement, she could receive five years' probation, documents show.

Dallas FBI spokesman Mark White declined to comment on the case, which is a joint investigation of the Department of Justice inspector general's office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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