March 26, 2007

Restaurant owner sentenced for employing, housing illegal aliens
Owner subject to deportation after imprisonment; forfeits $42,000

RADCLIFF, Ky. - An illegal alien from China was sentenced here today for hiring and employing illegal aliens at his local Chinese restaurant. This sentencing resulted from a worksite enforcement investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Jian Chai Lin, 35, of 7208 Woodland Drive, Radcliff, was sentenced March 26 in the Western District of Kentucky to hiring and employing illegal aliens to work at his restaurant, the Golden China Buffet. U.S. District Court Judge John G. Heyburn II sentenced Lin to two years probation, six months home confinement as a condition of probation, and forfeiture of $42,788.

Lin, who is also an illegal alien, pleaded guilty Dec. 19. He admitted that, between May 2003 and May 10, 2006, he knowingly hired 10 undocumented aliens to work at his restaurant. He hired these workers knowing that they were not authorized to work in the United States. In addition to hiring the illegal aliens, Jian Chai Lin provided housing and transportation, both to and from work. Although Jian Chai Lin paid the illegal aliens for their work, he did so at lower wages for the purpose of commercial advantage and financial gain. Lin agreed to forfeit $42,788 that was seized from the business' bank account because these funds were designated as proceeds of the illegal hiring.

ICE initiated the investigation after receiving a tip that Chinese nationals were being transported by bus and van to and from various restaurant locations in the Louisville Metro area.

Jian Tian Lin, Jian Chai Lin's brother, pleaded guilty to similar charges and was sentenced Dec. 18 to seven months in prison, plus two years supervised release. As illegal aliens, the Lins will be placed into deportation proceedings after they complete their sentences. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel P. Kinnicutt and Robert J. Kilmartin, Western District of Kentucky, prosecuted this case.

"ICE aggressively targets employers that knowingly and recklessly employ an illegal alien workforce," said Jerry Phillips, resident agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Louisville, Ky. "All employers in all industries must comply with the nation's laws. ICE is committed to investigating employers that egregiously flout those laws."

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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