Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008

Wheaton restaurateur to serve three years in prison

Germantown man, the ring leader in money laundering scheme, is the last of four family members to be sentenced
by Amber Parcher | Staff Writer

The Germantown man prosecutors say has been "at the helm" of a multi-million dollar money laundering scheme at a Wheaton chicken restaurant that involved harboring illegal immigrants was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

Francisco Solano, 56, who owned the popular Peruvian restaurant El Pollo Rico, which was located on Ennalls Avenue but has since re-opened on University Boulevard in Wheaton, pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens and structuring bank transactions to evade reporting.

He is the last of four defendants in the case to be prosecuted in the case. His wife, Ineys-Hoyos Solano, 60, was sentenced to three years probation for her role in assisting her husband launder money from the restaurant. His brother, Juan Faustino Solano, 58, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for paying illegal immigrants under the table — and less than the minimum wage — to work at the restaurant. And his sister, Consuelo Solano, 69, was sentenced to two months in prison for her role as the bookkeeper of the laundered money.

Prosecutors said more than $7 million in cash from the restaurant was deposited in an El Pollo Rico business account from January 2002 to July 2007 and transferred to a co-defendants' personal accounts. Money was used to buy property, jewelry and vehicles while the illegal immigrants employed at the restaurant were paid less than the minimum wage and housed at some of the defendants' properties.

Despite his family's help, prosecutors say Francisco Solano ran the entire scheme. He oversaw the books, the hiring and firing of illegal immigrants, the bank transactions and the living quarters of the illegal immigrants.

Although his sentence was significantly higher than the rest of his family's, it was well below the federal sentencing guidelines, which recommended he serve between five and seven years in prison. Solano's defense attorney argued the recommended sentence was "draconian and severe" and high because of the third charge of structuring bank transactions.

U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus, who has presided over the case, agreed. However, he said the crime of hiring illegal immigrants is a serious one and should not go unpunished. He said he is aware that practice is being used at businesses across the nation but said he hoped Solano's punishment would serve as a deterrent to hiring illegal immigrants.

Francisco Solano and the other defendants must also forfeit $7.2 million in cash and other assets, an amount Titus said was "absolutely enormous" and the most he's ever seen in his five years as a judge. He said he hoped that would also help deter businesses considering using illegal immigrants.

At his sentencing, Francisco Solano was composed when he told Titus — first in English then switching to speaking in Spanish through a translator — he was sorry for what he did.

"This country is a country of opportunity," he said. "But it is also a country of second chances and that, your honor, is what I'm asking of you: a second chance."

Behind him, his family — including his wife, son and daughter, who will be running the restaurant in his absence — was visibly upset as the judge issued the sentence.

http://gazette.net/stories/12182008/mon ... 2545.shtml