Sean Loloee’s troubles: A timeline of investigations related to the Sacramento city councilman

Sacramento City Councilman Sean Loloee has been indicted by a federal grand jury on 25 charges, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Labor, 14 counts of possession of false immigration documents, two counts of using a false immigration document, two counts of obstruction of agency proceedings, three counts of falsifying records and three counts of wire fraud.

The move by federal prosecutors came two months after federal agents shut down several of Loloee’s Viva Supermarkets for a day during a raid.

It’s the latest in a string of alleged violations since 2009 relating to the chain of four grocery stores in the capital region. Last year, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a federal lawsuit against Loloee and his businesses, first reported by The Sacramento Bee, which brought to light years of investigations.

Loloee and Karla Montoya, the general manager of Viva Supermarkets, are accused of hiring employees who used phony immigration documents. Loloee and Montoya face a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of conspiracy to defraud the Department of Labor, to commit immigration document fraud, and to obstruct justice; up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of possession of false immigration documents or use of a false immigration document; and up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of obstruction of agency proceedings.

Here is a timeline of federal investigations related to Viva Supermarkets:

▪ 2009: Federal investigators determine Loloee and his companies violated federal laws regarding minimum wage, overtime compensation, recordkeeping and child labor, according to a lawsuit the DOL filed last year. As a result, Loloee signs a settlement agreement to pay $4,658 in back wages to employees and child labor civil fines for violations at the Norwood Avenue store.

▪ 2018: Two former grocery store employees file their own lawsuit against Loloee’s companies in Sacramento Superior Court claiming they were not paid overtime, were not given meal or rest periods, were never reimbursed for paying for their uniforms and other allegations. Loloee paid a settlement in that case, court records show.

▪ April 2020: The city of Sacramento grants Loloee a $25,000 forgivable economic relief loan using coronavirus federal grant money. At the time, Loloee had advanced to a runoff for the District 2 City Council seat.

▪ 2020: A follow-up federal investigation found Loloee again violated overtime and recordkeeping requirements, ordering him to pay $35,423 in back wages, which he did, according to the federal lawsuit. However, that time, Loloee later allegedly coerced employees to return the back wages, prompting a third investigation. It found that Loloee in 2020 directed grocery store workers to lie to federal investigators, the lawsuit alleges. Loloee is elected to the council the same year.

▪ April 2022: The DOL sues Loloee alleging he threatened to deport employees who cooperated with a federal investigation into his stores. It also claims Loloee underpaid employees, employed minors in hazardous occupations, and interfered with multiple federal investigations spanning over a decade. It names 66 employees, and alleges violations at four stores: Rancho Cordova, Dixon and the two locations in the North Sacramento district Loloee represents — one in Del Paso Heights and one on Norwood Avenue.

▪ Oct. 26, 2023: All four Viva Supermarket stores in the Sacramento area are closed by federal agents. In addition, federal agents visit a house Loloee owns in Hagginwood, and a house his wife owns in Granite Bay.

▪ Oct. 27, 2023: Federal Labor officials allege in federal court filings that Loloee destroyed evidence related to the operation of the Viva chain. In an Aug. 11 deposition, Loloee told investigators that “he had failed to produce certain documents and destroyed data relevant to this investigation.” He had a deadline to provide additional documents by Oct. 21, but did not do so. The filing was made the same day officials raided his businesses.

▪ Oct. 27, 2023: Loloee tells multiple elected officials including state Sen. Angelique Ashby in late August or early September that he would not seek re-election the next year. The news came on the heels of Loloee’s own announcement about his intentions to CBS Sacramento. Loloee did not return messages or phone calls about the move.

▪ Nov. 2, 2023: The Sacramento Bee learns that shortly after buying a Hagginwood apartment building, the Sacramento councilman evicted the tenants, according to the property manager. When asked about the evictions, Loloee said “your information is incorrect” and declined to comment further.

▪ Nov. 16, 2023: Latino activists from his North Sacramento district took to a City Council meeting for the first time to publicly urge Loloee to resign. “You have no idea who is this man who is sitting here as a council member.He’s so dangerous ... In this city, the council members, because they have money, they can be above the law? This man threatened us. That’s why I’m speaking here this moment,” Alfonso Caro, a local activist with the Benito Juarez Association, told the council in Spanish.

▪ Dec. 14, 2023: Sacramento City Councilman Sean Loloee was indicted by a federal grand jury on 25 charges, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Labor, 14 counts of possession of false immigration documents, two counts of using a false immigration document, two counts of obstruction of agency proceedings, three counts of falsifying records and three counts of wire fraud.

▪ Dec. 15, 2023: A federal indictment handed up by a grand jury is unsealed; Loloee was expected to surrender to U.S. Marshals before being charged in federal court.

Other investigations against Loloee

More recently, Loloee has also faced a city investigation into allegations that he lives outside the North Sacramento council district he represents.

Here is a timeline of events into questions regarding Loloee’s residency and other matters related to his elected position:

▪ 2019: Loloee buys a house in North Sacramento’s Hagginwood neighborhood. Eight months later, someone calls 911 to report a fight between the buyer and seller of a vehicle at Loloee’s Hagginwood house.

▪ July 2021: A man at a party at Loloee’s Hagginwood house allegedly brandishes a gun in a threatening manner. Someone calls the police, and several days later, officers arrest a suspect who had five guns with him. Loloee told The Bee he was at the house that night, although court records related to the arrest do not name him. Instead, the records show Karla Montoya, the general manager of Loloee’s grocery store chain, was at the house on Nogales Street.

▪ June 2022: The Bee reports Loloee does not appear to live in a Hagginwood house he owns, and where he is registered to vote, but instead he appears to live at his wife’s Granite Bay house. Residents of the house tell The Bee they are Viva Supermarket employees and that Loloee lives there with them. Loloee tells the Bee he was sworn in at a friend’s East Sacramento house, then later admits it was his wife’s $1.4 million Granite Bay house.

▪ July 2022: The city issues code violations to Loloee’s Hagginwood house for building structures without permits. A new code case is currently active for the same violation.

▪ October 2022: A city-commissioned outside investigation, which did not include interviews with Loloee’s neighbors, finds Loloee indeed lives in the Hagginwood house with his employees.

▪ June 2023: The California Fair Political Practices Commission fines Loloee $200 for being late to file a financial disclosure paperwork.

▪ Oct. 26, 2023: A reporter observes nine vehicles, some without license plates, and a yellow excavator on the property.

▪ Nov. 17, 2023: The state Fair Political Practices Commission opens an investigation after learning information about commercial properties he owns from a Sacramento Bee story, according to FPPC documents.