Two Norcross Men Sentenced for Employing Illegal Aliens

Local business owners recruited and transported illegal immigrants to Chinese restaurants and other establishments to work, exploiting them, according to officials. Pili Chen and Ai Lin Fu, both of Norcross, were both sentenced to over one year in prison, according to Department of Justice officials. 

District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. sentenced Chen on Thursday, who owned and operated a business called New Fuzhou Employment Agency, along with his wife, co-defendant Xiao Ping Li.  Ai Lin Fu was also sentenced in January for having a similar business called Zhong Mei Employment Agency. Both were located in a Chamblee strip mall. 

According to the Justice Department release, Chen and Fu sought out undocumented workers and did not request that they submit any proof of being in the country legally. Various businesses contacted the men to find workers, “primarily in Chinese restaurants,” according to the release. The employment agencies charged the workers a commission and transportation fee and, in some cases, would charge the restaurant owners a second cut. 

According to the statement, the agencies paid in cash, used vans to transport the workers and, in at least one case, arranged apartments for the workers so they would have less contact with law enforcement or others.

“These defendants not only broke the law by employing workers who were illegally in the United States, they exploited the workers by subjecting them to long shifts, substandard pay and poor working conditions,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates in the statement. 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI worked together on the case, according to the Justice Department release.

“Human trafficking, no matter what the underlying purpose… is a process of systematically exploiting others for personal gain,” said Atlanta FBI agent Brian D. Lamkin in the statement.

One restaurant that used the employment agencies was the Grand Buffet and Grill in Duluth, owned by Sau Ting Cheng, who was also charged in the case. “As the restaurant manager, Sau Ting Chen participated in the pattern of hiring and employing the workers, knowing that the aliens were unauthorized to work in the United States, and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for his more limited role in the scheme,” according to the release.

Though Pili Chen was indicted yesterday and others were charged in January, the cases were part of a larger operation in June 2010 that involved the separate indictments at four employment agencies at 3146 Chamblee Dunwoody Road. As part of that case, 39 illegal aliens were arrested who were associated with the agencies and restaurants.