Thread: Illegal to Lose Most of $59K

Illegal to Lose Most of $59K
Illegal immigrant in Stuart who earned $59K over 10 years likely will lose most of it

Megan V. Winslow

Washing dishes, it took Pedro Mariano Zapeta a decade to earn $59,000 cash.

But it took a mere day for the undocumented immigrant to lose it to airport customs officials, who thought he was smuggling drug money back to his native Guatemala.

So began an almost two-year battle between Zapeta and the U.S. government over whether he is legally entitled to the money after failing to declare that he was carrying more than $10,000 in U.S. currency out of the country, as the law requires. In January, a U.S. District Judge ruled the government could keep all the money but $10,000, which is to be returned to Zapeta. The case is under appeal.

And last week, an immigration judge told Zapeta, 39, he would be deported if he did not voluntarily leave the U.S. by Jan. 24, and there is nothing more his immigration attorney, Marisol Zequeira of John T. Kennedy’s office in Stuart, can do.


“We went as far as we could go in terms of studying different possibilities,â€

[quote]“God knows that I made that money through great personal sacrifice, and I think God is watching after me,â€

Robert Gershman, a West Palm Beach attorney handling Zapeta’s forfeiture case, supplied the government with restaurant work slips proving he earned the money legally...

How could he have earned the money legally when it's against the law to hire illegal aliens?

While channel surfing last night, I saw Rick Sanchez on Cnn say he is taking up this cause to ge this man's money back He has contacted state representatives and federal courts to see how he can help

Originally Posted by steelerbabe

While channel surfing last night, I saw Rick Sanchez on Cnn say he is taking up this cause to ge this man's money back He has contacted state representatives and federal courts to see how he can help

Funny I just posted about watching his show in another thread. This guy is so racist even he is oblivous to the fact that he is. Did you watch the guy from FAIR shred him last night? That was comedic gold.

The key here is tax evasion. That's what they finally got Al Capone on: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/americ ... apone.html

When Rick Sanchez figured it out, he owed IRS $45,000.
I do not understand how he save $59.000 out of his $122,000 earning over ten years.

Zapeta said: "God knows that I made that money through great personal sacrifice, and I think God is watching after me.â€

Related article
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... a&start=25

[quote]“For a long period of time, he was doing well, earning an income at jobs other Americans wouldn’t do,â€