Brewer restaurateur faces immigration charges
The manager of Brewer's Twin Super Buffet, 28-year-old Mei Ya Zhang, was arrested Wednesday on federal charges of harboring and profiting from the employment of illegal aliens.
The Bangor Daily News reported that Zhang, who is part of a family restaurant network accused of hiring and housing undocumented workers, faces up to 10 years in federal prison on charges of conspiracy and aiding and abetting harboring of illegal aliens for commercial advantage and private financial gain.
Local and federal law enforcement officers in late 2011 raided the Brewer restaurant and others the Zhang family owned in Waterville and Lewiston.
U.S. Attorney Donald Clark has alleged that the Zhang family has similar operations in Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island where investigators believe taxes were avoided on nearly $2.9 million in cash transactions.
Mei Ya Zhang is the first family member to be charged in Maine with a crime in connection with charges stemming from the investigation that began in 2006.
The BDN reported that cases of other family members have been consolidated and are currently scheduled for trial in July.
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