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Restaurant Owners Jailed for Harboring Illegal Aliens
WILLIAMSPORT – Four restaurant owner/managers in the State College area were sentenced for their role in a conspiracy to transport, harbor and conceal illegal aliens, according to a recent U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania press release.
The defendants, Jing Mei Jiang, Xin Xing Jiang, Yan Jin Jiang, and Yu Mei Chen, all residents of Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, were sentenced by United States District Court Judge Matthew W. Brann on April 15, 2016. Jiang was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment, while the other three were sentenced to two years’ probation.
Jing Mei Jiang, identified as the leader of the conspiracy, was also charged with defrauding the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by underreporting the actual number of employees in audit and tax documents and by creating falsified financial records on his Employer’s Quarterly Report of Wages Paid to each employee.
The conspiracy involved recruiting unauthorized aliens to work in restaurants and transporting them to and from restaurants in the State College area, where they would work and be housed during their employment. The workforce consisted of Hispanic and Chinese aliens from Mexico, Guatemala, Thailand, and China, who were paid in cash at a rate well below the minimum wage.
The case is part of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, assisted by the State College Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys William A. Behe and Gordon Zubrod, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert LaBar of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case.
Four other defendants previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to two years’ probation: Zue Jiang, Jian Bin Chen, Yong Cheng Chen, and Hua Zhen Dong, all residents of State College, Pennsylvania. The court also ordered the forfeiture of several properties and cash tied to the criminal activity, including:
$21,890 in cash seized from the China Dragon Restaurant, State College, PA
$43,108 in cash seized from 210 Limerock Terrace, State College, PA
210 Limerock Terrace, State College, PA
458 East College Avenue, Unit 211, State College, PA
458 East College Avenue, Unit 406, State College, PA
691 Westerly Parkway, State College, PA
Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Category: Human Trafficking|White Collar Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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