Restaurant owner accused of hiring illegal aliens

BY: DAVE AMBROSE - South County News
Wednesday, July 2, 2008 2:45 PM CDT

A co-owner of Toni’s Family Restaurant in Mount Clare has been charged in federal court of hiring illegal aliens.

Besim Tabaku, 34, who owns the restaurant with his wife Gentiana Tabaku, 30, was charged Friday with “knowingly hiring aliens who entered the United States unlawfully’ in a complaint in U.S. District Court in Springfield.

Tabaku was scheduled to make an initial appearance in court on Tuesday, according to Sharon Paul, spokesperson for the federal court. She said the government now has 30 days in which to secure an indictment from a federal grant jury, provided Tabaku does not waive the indictment.

If convicted, Tabaku could face up to six months in prison and a fine of $3,000 for each alien he is alleged to have hired, she said.

The criminal complaint follows two raids conducted at the restaurant by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials this year.

An affidavit filed in support of the complaint by Stephen J. Westover, a special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), indicates officials began investigating Tabaku and the restaurant in February after a former employee of the restaurant contacted ICE and alleged her former employer “regularly and habitually employs illegal aliens.â€