More News

A Kensington man who worked as manager at a Wheaton chicken restaurant was sentenced to 15 months in jail for knowingly hiring and harboring illegal immigrants in connection with a multimillion-dollar money laundering scheme.

Juan Faustino Solano, 58, pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to harbor illegal immigrants and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He admitted to paying illegal immigrants under the table to work at El Pollo Rico, a Peruvian chicken restaurant on Ennalls Avenue that his brother, Francisco Solano, owned.

Their sister, 69-year-old Consuelo Solano, of Arlington, Va., was sentenced last week to two months in jail for transferring funds from the restaurant to the defendants' bank accounts in her role as bookkeeper. She pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Prosecutors said more than $7 million in cash from the restaurant was deposited in an El Pollo Rico business account from January 2002 to July 2007 and transferred to a co-defendants' personal accounts. Money was used to buy property, jewelry and vehicles while the illegal immigrants employed at the restaurant were paid less than the minimum wage and housed at some of the defendants' properties.

U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus said during Juan Solano's sentencing at the U.S. District Courthouse in Greenbelt on Monday that the immigrants were put in a vulnerable situation. They could not report being taken advantage of for fear of being deported or prosecuted, and many won't even know about the justice being served, he said.

While Consuelo Solano's sentencing was well below the government-recommended penalty of 21 to 27 months, her brother's was on low end of the recommended punishment of 15 to 21 months.

Titus said Juan Solano committed "very serious crimes" and he wanted to deter anyone considering doing the same.

Both defendants were visibly upset toward the end of their prospective sentencing. Juan Solano had to fight back tears several times as he addressed the judge before his sentencing.

"I am very sorry for what I did. I would never do this again," he said as several of his friends and family in the courtroom dabbed at their eyes.

Consuelo Solano said the same at her sentencing Sept. 24.

"I am very sorry for what I did. And I won't do it again," she told the judge.

Titus said he came to Consuelo Solano's sentencing, the first of four in the case, completely undecided about the punishment.

While U.S. Attorney David Salem tried to paint her during the sentencing as one of the main players in the multimillion-dollar operation, Consuelo Solano's attorneys, Marc Hall and Jeannie Cho, defended her as a remorseful woman who was obeying the other defendants.

"You have a person with a very long, clean record that is impressive here," Hall said.

Juan Solano's attorney, Michael Starr, said there is no excuse for his client's crime but asked the judge to weigh it proportionally to the others involved, two of whom have not been sentenced.

Francisco Solano, 59, of Germantown, pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to harbor illegal immigrants and structuring bank transactions to evade reporting. His wife, Ines Hoyos-Solano, 60, of Germantown, pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Their sentencing is set for Nov. 24.

Consuelo and Juan Solano must also forfeit $7.2 million in cash and other assets. Consuelo Solano must forfeit the $2 million found in the kitchen cabinet of her home.

Because Juan Solano is diabetic, he will most likely be placed in a low-security prison that will accommodate his health, the judge said.