Niagara County men plead guilty to forcing undocumented immigrants to work in their restaurant
May 7—Two Niagara County men have pleaded guilty to forcing undocumented immigrants to working in their Mexican restaurant in Niagara Falls.
Roberto Montes-Villalpando, 60, of Sanborn, and Abraham Montes, 28, of North Tonawanda, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo to conspiracy to harbor aliens for financial gain and causing serious bodily injury on Thursday. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr.
Montes-Villalpando and Montes owned and operated El Cubilete Mexican Restaurant. Between December 2014 and late 2018, the restaurant was located at 9400 Niagara Falls Boulevard. In late-2018, the restaurant moved to 2050 Cayuga Extension in Niagara Falls. Montes-Villalpando managed the restaurant, supervised the staff, including wait and kitchen staff, made hiring and firing decisions, and determined payroll. Montes supervised the kitchen staff which included Victims 1, 2, 3, and 4, who were each natives and citizens of Mexico. The victims—none of whom had legal status in the U.S.—were employed by the defendants as cooks, food preparers, and dishwashers. In addition, the victims sublet a Niagara Falls apartment rented by Montes-Villalpando, according to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meghan A. Tokash and Laura A. Higgins, who handled the case, with support from the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division's Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
Between Nov. 1, 2014, and Feb. 18, 2018, Montes-Villalpando and Montes recruited and hired undocumented foreign nationals who had entered the U.S. illegally to work for them. Montes-Villalpando and Montes enticed prospective laborers who lived and worked in Ohio, including Victim 1 and Victim 2, to work at El Cubilete by promising them better pay and fewer hours. During their employment, Victims 1, 2, 3, and 4 were paid less than required by the Fair Labor Standards Act and by New York State law, which required a minimum wage of $9/hour. According to analysis performed by the Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General, the victims were underpaid in the following amounts respectively: Victim 1—$5,386.60; Victim 2—$8,513.44; Victim 3—$61,665.40; and Victim 4—$6,006.60.
Additionally, in February 2018, Montes punched Victim 3 in the nose and stated he would kill Victim 3. Montes then used a fire extinguisher to strike Victim 3 in the head causing him to fall to the ground. Victim 3 was transported to a hospital for medical treatment where he was diagnosed with a broken nose and a laceration on his head was closed with staples.
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 14 before Judge Vilardo.
