Bee's Buffet owner gets year in prison

Asylum-seeker could be deported for harboring illegals

from the Cincinnati Enquirer

The owner of Bee's Buffet in Fairfield must spend one year in prison for harboring illegal immigrants who worked in his restaurant.

U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel also ordered Jing Fei Jiang to forfeit the restaurant and the property it stands on within 30 days unless he can pay $100,000 in fines.

Jiang, who is not a U.S. citizen, faces deportation after serving his sentence.

The 37-year-old restaurant owner was arrested last year after federal prosecutors accused him of "inducing, transporting and harboring" illegal workers.

He pleaded guilty to that charge in January.

Federal authorities seized Jiang's business, his 2004 GMC Yukon XL and about $400,000 in cash. Some of the money was in a safe in his house and the rest was in a safe deposit box and bank accounts.

Prosecutors say Jiang illegally employed immigrants at his Chinese restaurant since at least October 2005. They say he housed them in his home in Fairfield and drove them to and from work.

Jiang's lawyer, Hal Arenstein, could not be reached Tuesday. But he previously has described his client as a hard-working businessman who spent about 70 hours a week at his restaurant.

Jiang has continued to live in the United States for at least 10 years since he first was ordered deported, prosecutors said.

He has claimed he was at Tiannanmen Square and has applied for asylum in the United States.