A federal judge Tuesday reluctantly sentenced an Oxford man to three years probation for employing illegal immigrants in his Mexican restaurant.
“Focusing on one person is not going to stem the tide (of illegal immigration),” Judge Peter Dorsey said, summarizing the case against Andrew Adames, 43.
Background
Adames owns Senor Panchos, a Mexican restaurant with locations in Monroe, Prospect and Southbury.
Adames also owns rental property near the Monroe and Southbury restaurants, which he leased to illegal immigrants he employed.
In February, federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Labor raided the apartment house. It was their second raid in about three years.
However, during the February raid, several of the tenants told the agents that Adames knew they were illegal immigrants and that they were paid in cash for their work.
Adames pleaded guilty in June to one felony count of unlawful employment of aliens. The government believed he employed at least 10 illegal immigrants in his restaurants.
Click here for background information on the case.
Court Tuesday
More than 100 people sent letters to Dorsey asking for leniency.
“Is there anybody out there in Southbury who didn’t write a letter?” Dorsey asked.
In federal court in New Haven Tuesday, Adames, a father of two young children, admitted his crime and apologized.
“I apologize to the court,” he said. “I put my family through a lot of stress.”
Adames said his restaurants have new hiring practices in place. He no longer employs illegal immigrants.
“We just want to move on,” he said.
Federal prosecutors had previously argued for a jail sentence of up to six months, but did not object to probation in court.
Diane Polan, Adames’ lawyer, said her client admitted his guilt and cooperated with the government the minute he heard he was under investigation.
He also agreed to pay the government $150,000 — a debt which forced him to sell his restaurant in Monroe.
However, Polan said Department of Justice and the administration of President Barack Obama were wrong to go after small business owners, considering the federal government has failed, for years, to enact meaningful immigration reform.
Dorsey seemed to agree.
“This is part of an overall, much bigger problem than Mr. Adames’ situation,” Dorsey said. “But it’s the law … This isn’t the only stupidity that we’ve seen come out of Washington,” the judge said.
Polan pointed out that Adames was not exploiting illegal immigrants. In fact, he was paying them fair wages and giving them an affordable place to live, she said.
Prosecutor Says
Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Morabito agreed that Adames did not exploit his employees. In addition, Adames took immediate responsibility for his actions, for which he deserves credit, Morabito said.
Morabito only took exception with the way Polan characterized the actions of ICE agents who interviewed Adames’ tenants back in February.
The agents did not coerce the illegal immigrants, Morabito said.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said. “They weren’t promised anything.”
Dorsey then stressed that he did not take issue with law enforcement or any other person involved in the case.
“The problem I have is with the law,” the judge said.
In addition to probation, the judge ordered Adames to serve three hours of community service per week until he reaches 150 hours. The judge even granted him permission to leave the state next month to watch a UConn football game.
“I wish you good luck,” Dorsey told Adames.
