Two plead guilty to harboring illegals, money laundering

Trial still pending for two others in El Pollo Rico restaurant case

Another brother, Juan Faustino Solano, 59, a former manager at El Pollo Rico, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens. He faces a maximum of 30 years.

Consuelo Solano’s attorney Marc Hall and Juan Solano’s attorney Michael Starr declined to comment.

The other two defendants, Francisco Solano and his wife Ines Hoyos-Solano, are scheduled for trial Aug. 19 to face charges of money laundering, conspiracy, illegal avoidance of currency reporting requirements and employment of unauthorized immigrants, said Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.

The guilty pleas from Consuelo and Juan Solano were a testament to the strong evidence investigators have accumulated for the case, said James Dinkins, special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for Maryland.

Prosecutors said the defendants employed illegal aliens at the restaurant and did not list them on wage records supplied to the government. From January 2002 to July 2007, more than $7 million in cash proceeds from the restaurant was deposited in an El Pollo Rico business account and transferred to the co-defendants’ personal accounts, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Deposits to the business account were kept under $10,000 so they would not trigger legal reporting requirements. The money was then transferred to the personal accounts and withdrawn in larger amounts. Prosecutors said the defendants bought property, jewelry and vehicles.

Additionally, Juan Solano paid illegal aliens under the table to work at El Pollo Rico from January 1999 to July 2007, and housed them at residences he and the co-defendants owned, according to the statement of facts read in court by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacy Belf.

‘‘Honest businesses are at a disadvantage if they play by the rules and pay taxes when there are dishonest businesses paying under the table and evading taxes,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein in an interview after the guilty pleas. ‘‘It’s important to bring in cases like this one, so there is a level playing field.”

Dinkins said the investigation was initiated by the suspicious activity surrounding the business account before it was discovered that the money involved was a result of knowingly employing undocumented workers. Even if the workers had been legal, the structuring of funds from El Pollo Rico to the personal accounts still would have violated federal law, Dinkins said.

As part of the plea, Juan and Consuelo Solano will negotiate a ‘‘closing agreement” with the Internal Revenue Service to resolve unpaid taxes from 2000 to 2007. Both will also forfeit $7.2 million in assets gained from the illegal activity. The assets include 13 bank accounts, three vehicles and eight residences also used to harbor illegal aliens, including three homes in Wheaton, one in Kensington, two in Silver Spring and one in Germantown.

Consuelo Solano will also forfeit $2.1 million cash seized in a search of her home in July 2007. Rosenstein said it was one of the largest seizures his office has ever conducted.

Both defendants face up to three years of supervised release after serving their sentences and fines of up to $500,000.

Juan Solano, a native of Peru, issued his plea through an interpreter while Consuelo Solano, also a native of Peru, pleaded on her own behalf.

Consuelo and Juan Solano are U.S. citizens and will not face deportation.

Both Consuelo and Juan Solano had originally pleaded not guilty to the charges Aug. 7, 2007, after a raid in July 2007 by ICE officers, with assistance from Montgomery County Police.

Consuelo Solano will be sentenced Sept. 24 and Juan Solano will be sentenced Sept. 29.