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Couple sentenced for hiring illegals
Each gets 3 months; man to go to prison

By Kay Stewart
kstewart@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

A married couple who "embody the American dream" were sentenced yesterday for hiring illegal immigrants to work at their Jumbo Buffet restaurant in Jeffersontown.

Juan Bin Yeung, 34, received three months of home incarceration, and her husband, Hau Yeung, 34, was sentenced to three months in prison after they admitted to hiring 13 illegal immigrants between February 2005 and February 2006.



"These are hardworking people who in many respects embody the American dream," Chief U.S. District Judge John Heyburn II said before imposing punishment.

He opted for a punishment that he said wouldn't destroy the Yeungs' family or business, while sending a message that the nation's immigration laws must be respected.

In a similar case pending in Louisville, Heyburn yesterday accepted a guilty plea from Jian Chai Lin, 35, to a charge of knowingly hiring 10 illegal immigrants over the past year to work at his Radcliff restaurant, Golden China Buffet. As part of a plea agreement, Lin forfeited $42,788 from a restaurant bank account.

Heyburn sentenced Lin's brother, Jian Tian Lin, 32, to six months, time he had already served, on Monday after he pleaded guilty to hiring illegal aliens at his brother's restaurant.

The investigation into the Lins, who are in the country illegally, began after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement received a tip in May 2003 that Chinese nationals were being transported by bus and van to restaurants in the Louisville area, according to court records.

Federal immigration officers began investigating the Yeungs after a Louisville Metro Police officer reported in January 2005 seeing a van transporting workers to the Jumbo Buffet restaurant.

Kinnicutt said there was no evidence in either of the cases that illegal workers were mistreated or grossly underpaid. Deportation proceedings will be undertaken against the illegal workers, most of whom are Chinese, at both restaurants, he said.

Kinnicutt said the Yeungs cooperated with immigration officials who are investigating agencies in cities such as New York, Chicago and Atlanta that place illegal workers with employers around the country.

At one point, O'Brien told the judge that it's "awfully strange to me" that the agencies that solicited the Yeungs with illegal workers are still operating, "providing a fountain of illegal aliens."

Kinnicutt told the judge that operators of such agencies "are all under investigation" but move frequently and are difficult to apprehend.

Hau Yeung and his wife each pleaded for no jail time.

He said his ailing 60-year-old mother, who takes care of their 9-year-old and 2-year-old children while they work seven days a week, would be unable to manage without them. His father died last year.

Finding employees who are willing to work for a long time is difficult, Hau Yeung told the judge, and he said he and his wife employed a service to provide them with workers.

Heyburn asked whether he knew they were illegal immigrants, and Yeung responded that they were in a desperate situation. "We just trusted these people," he said.

Juan Bin Yeung told the judge that what they did was wrong, but said: "We want to stay together as a family" and "a lot of restaurant owners will learn from our mistake."

Heyburn ordered two years of supervised release following their incarceration and imposed a $7,500 fine. They also will forfeit $32,435 from a restaurant bank account.

Juan Bin said after the sentencing that she wants to sell the business and that it will be difficult to survive given their punishment.

She wouldn't comment further.

They will begin serving their sentences at a time to be determined by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, under Heyburn's sentencing order.

Reporter Kay Stewart can be reached at (502) 582-4114.