Kansas restaurant manager sentenced to 6 months in federal prison for harboring illegal aliens

WICHITA, Kan. — The manager of a Mexican restaurant in eastern Kansas was sentenced Tuesday to six months in federal prison for harboring illegal aliens.

This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Alex Sanchez, Jr., 36, who was the manager of El Mezcal Mexican Restaurant in Ottawa, Kansas, pleaded guilty to one count of harboring illegal aliens for commercial advantage.

In a plea agreement, he admitted that in 2011 he paid a fine of $22,589 fine when HSI found him in violation of rules for I-9 employee eligibility verification forms.  Despite having to pay this fine, he continued to employ workers in 2012 who he knew were not legally in the United States. He provided housing for his undocumented workers and paid them in cash.

Sanchez prison sentence will be followed by six months home confinement, and a $4,000 fine. After serving his sentence, he will be on supervised release for three years.