http://www.11alive.com/rss/article/188344/3/Norcross-man-gets-jail-time-for-recruiting-illegal-immigrants
 
 
NORCROSS, Ga. -- A Norcross employment agency owner was sentenced Friday to one year and four months in federal prison for recruiting and employing illegal workers in Metro Atlanta Chinese restaurants.
The sentencing of Pili Chen, 56, follows the January sentencings in a related case of owners and operators of a neighboring agency and a Chinese restaurant in the Atlanta area.
 
According to U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates, the charges and other information presented in court, Chen and a co-defendant owned and operated an employment agency named "New Fuzhou" in Chamblee, Ga., while another owned and operated a similar agency, "Zhong Mei Employment Agency," in the same Chamblee shopping center.
 
The agencies landed employment for illegals, primarily undocumented Mexican workers, across the eastern United States. Neither agency required or requested any proof that the workers 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 illegals 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' pay.
 
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 illegals and the outside world, including law enforcement. Xiao Ping Li is now a fugitive in Canada.
(Atlanta Business Chronicle)