Thread: CT-Man hiring illegal immigrants sentenced

Man hiring illegal immigrants sentenced
Updated: Tuesday, 06 Oct 2009, 5:10 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 06 Oct 2009, 5:08 PM EDT

Story by: Lisa DiVirgilio
Southbury (WTNH) - An Oxford man was sentenced to three years of probation for unlawfully employing illegal immigrants.

Andrew Adames, 43, plead guilty to the charge on June 30. According to court documents, Adames employed at least 10 individuals at his restaurants, Señor Pancho's restaurants in Southbury and Prospect, and formerly owned Señor Pancho's restaurants in Monroe, Litchfield and other locations, that were not authorized to work in the United States.

The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Labor.



http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/crime/news ... 0910061708

Owner of area restaurants fined for illegal hires
By Michael P. Mayko

Posted: 10/07/2009 09:50:47 PM EDT
Updated: 10/07/2009 09:50:47 PM EDT



The owner of Senor Pancho's restaurants forfeited $150,000 to the federal government and must perform 150 hours of community service during three years of probation for employing undocumented immigrants at his restaurants.

Senior U.S. District Judge Peter C. Dorsey imposed the sentence Tuesday afternoon on Andrew Adames, 43, of 41 Punkup Road, Oxford.

Adames owns and operates Senor Pancho's restaurants in Southbury and Prospect, and formerly owned the chain's restaurants in Monroe, which he sold in July, and in Litchfield. He also owns residential buildings near the Monroe and Southbury restaurants where several employees lived.

"Like virtually every restaurant owner in the state of Connecticut, Mr. Adames hired restaurant workers from Mexico, some who had proper documentation and some of whom did not," Diane Polan, his lawyer, wrote Dorsey. She said he hired them because they knew how to cook Mexican food and were hard workers.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided one of his residential buildings in 2006 and deported several employees to Mexico. They returned last February and, after questioning some of the residents, learned they were being paid in cash and provided false documentation. Adames became a target of the probe.

He hired a lawyer and pleaded guilty in June to employing at least 10 people he knew were in the country illegally and were not authorized to work here.

"In my mind I was doing a good thing by providing jobs and a good lifestyle to these people," Adames wrote in a letter to the judge. "I acknowledge that by employing immigrants I broke the law and for this I have taken full responsibility."

He also told the judge he has implemented new hiring procedures and changed employee policies.


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