Restaurant co-owner faces prison, deportation
Admits he's an illegal alien and has hired illegal workers

By Paul Pinkham Story updated at 10:50 AM on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009

The co-owner of a popular Indian restaurant in Jacksonville has admitted harboring illegal workers at the eatery, which remained closed Monday.

Sanjit Kumar Rajak, co-owner and manager of Cilantro Indian Cuisine on San Jose Boulevard, was charged Friday and pleaded guilty to hiring four illegal workers and leasing their apartment since March.

His written plea agreement says he won’t be charged with harboring other illegal aliens found working at the Mandarin restaurant by immigration agents, who were alerted to Rajak while investigating a South Florida pastor for submitting fraudulent immigration documents.

Rajak, who has been in the United States since 2002, faces up to 10 years in prison, though prosecutors agreed to seek a shorter prison sentence. They also plan to ask for a $5,000 fine, according to the plea agreement. He probably will be deported, his lawyer said.

“He was here being a productive citizen, but he was here illegally,â€