A husband and wife who own three restaurants in Northern Virginia have been convicted of employing illegal immigrants, but were acquitted of shielding their employees from detection by authorities.
Kiet Bui and My Tran own three Viet House restaurants in Virginia and were convicted this week of hiring at least seven illegal immigrants and paying them in cash in an effort to conceal them in business records.
A federal judge in Alexandria found both partners guilty of unlawful employment of illegal aliens and continued employment of illegal aliens.
But both were acquitted of harboring illegal immigrants.
That means U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton found them guilty of employing workers who were in the country illegally, but not of trying to hide the workers from immigration officials.
Bui and Tran could each face up to six months in prison for the conviction. They are scheduled to be sentenced on March 4.
Prosecutors argued that the two knew some of their workers were in the country illegally. They paid those workers in cash, did not keep payroll records for the employees and did not report the workers to the Virginia Employment Commission.
Bui’s attorney did not return a call for comment, and an attorney for Tran declined to comment.
Court records show that Bui paid some of his employees in cash, and did not file a Form I-9, which establishes that someone is authorized to work in the United States, for any of those employees.
When authorities interviewed Bui at his restaurants, several workers fled the establishments and one tried to hide in a walk-in freezer.
When the investigation into his employees began, Bui admitted to authorities that “he had a problem with illegal workers, that he was aware he had paid illegal workers in cash, and that he knows he has not paid taxes on them,” court records say.
He contended that “employing illegal workers is normal in the restaurant business,” but could not name other establishments that hired illegal immigrants to work.
Bui was charged by criminal complaint on Sept. 1. A federal grand jury indicted both Bui and Tran later that month.
The three Viet House restaurants are located at 9966 Main St. in Fairfax, 11216 Lee Highway in Fairfax and 6226 Richmond Highway in Alexandria.
