Business Owners Punished for Employing Illegals

A Norcross man, who was both a Chamblee employment agency owner and driver, was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr. for recruiting and employing illegal aliens in Chinese restaurants who were provided housing and transportation to work, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced. The April 21 sentencing followed the January 2011 sentencings in a related case of owners and operators of another Chamblee agency and a Chinese restaurant in Duluth.

Pili Chen, 56, of Norcross was sentenced to one year, four months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, according to the announcement.

“These defendants not only broke the law by employing workers who were illegally in the United States, they exploited the workers by subjecting them to long shifts, substandard pay, and poor working conditions,” U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in the announcement. “As this case shows, we will hold employers responsible – including business owners and managers – who attempt to gain an unlawful economic advantage by hiring employees who are not permitted to be in the United States.”

On January 31,  three other defendants were sentenced, according to the announcement. Ai Lin Fu, 41, of Norcross was sentenced to one year, two months in prison. Sau Ting Cheng, 42, of Duluth was sentenced to 10 months in prison and a $3,000 fine. Liang Feng Chen, 33, of Duluth was sentenced to two years of probation, including three months of home confinement, and a $1,000 fine. Fu, Cheng and Pili Chen’s prison sentences are to be followed by three years of supervised release.

According to Yates, Pili Chen and co-defendant Xiao Ping Li owned and operated the New Fuzhou employment agency in Chamblee while Ai Lin Fu owned and operated the Zhong Mei Employment Agency in the same Chamblee shopping center. The agencies obtained employment for illegal aliens, primarily undocumented Mexican workers, across the eastern United States. Neither agency required or requested any proof that the aliens had permission to be or work in the United States. They advertised in Chinese language newspapers and on the internet.  Employers called the agencies and requested workers for various jobs, usually in the kitchens of Chinese restaurants. The agencies charged the illegal aliens a commission and transportation fee to place them in the job and drive them there, and in some cases charged the restaurant owners, who deducted the fees from their illegal workers modest pay. 

Fu’s husband and co-defendant Xian Chen operated Zhong Mei Employment Agency with Fu and drove workers to the restaurants. Pili Chen operated New Fuzhou with his wife Xiao Ping Li and also transported the workers. The employment agencies used paid drivers to minimize contact between the illegal aliens and the outside world, including law enforcement. Xian Chen fled to Canada after the indictment and has been ordered extradited to the United States. Xiao Ping Li remains a fugitive, the announcement stated.

Sau Ting Cheng owned and operated a Chinese restaurant in Duluth named the Grand Buffet and Grill. Liang Feng Chen was the manager at the restaurant. Cheng and Sau Ting Chen hired illegal aliens through Zhong Mei Employment Agency, according to the announcement. To better monitor the workers and shield them from detection, Cheng housed them at a nearby apartment complex and had them transported to and from work in 15 passenger vans. She also paid the workers in cash to avoid paying unemployment taxes. As the restaurant manager, Liang Feng Chen participated in the pattern of hiring and employing the workers, knowing that the aliens were unauthorized to work in the United States, and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for his more limited role in the scheme.  

These cases were part of a larger operation in June 2010 that involved the separate indictments of the owners and drivers of four employment agencies at 3146 Chamblee Dunwoody Road and the administrative arrests of 39 illegal aliens associated with the agencies and restaurants. 

Special Agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (HSI), Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the cases. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian M. Pearce and Stephen H. McClain prosecuted the cases.

For further information visit the Home Page of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia.