Federal immigration fraud case in Savannah ends with imposition of prison sentence for main defendant
In Rincon, a city near Savannah, the husband and wife of a Chinese buffet were arrested for conspiring to harbor and employ illegal immigrants. The 36-year-old husband, Guo Hua Jiang, was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Thursday.
The Savannah Morning News has the story.
The indictment against the couple states that they employed one or more illegal immigrants since February in order to “obtain commercial advantage and private financial gain.” Prosecutors believe that at least 10 illegal immigrants worked at the restaurant.
District Court Chief Judge William T. Moore Jr. sentenced Jiang to 21 months in prison and three years on supervised release once his prison sentence has ended. The sentence comes after Jiang entered a guilty plea in May. Jiang also agreed to forfeit $75,000 instead of giving up two residencies in Rincon. His wife has also entered a guilty plea but has yet to be sentenced.
The couple now faces deportation.
We have handled several immigration fraud allegations, and have so far been successful in getting charges dismissed against our clients. (One case was dismissed the week before trial.)
Like other federal attorneys in Georgia, we noticed an increase in these cases due to Justice Department priorities under the Bush Administration. We'll see if that pace continues with the new folks in charge.
Pate & Brody is an accomplished Georgia law firm with offices in Atlanta, Macon and Madison. Our lawyers are dedicated to pursuing justice for people charged with serious crimes. We have successfully represented clients facing serious federal criminal charges and state criminal charges in courts across Georgia. Our lawyers have been recognized on the list of Georgia's "Super Lawyers", and included among Georgia's "Legal Elite" by Georgia Trend Magazine. Page Pate was recently the Chairman of the Criminal Law Section of the Atlanta Bar Association.
