BEAUMONT, Texas — A Houston couple has been sentenced to federal prison for operating an employment agency that for years found work in restaurants across the country for people in the U.S. illegally.
Chenglun Ma, 58, and his wife, Lina Sun, 55, were sentenced Thursday in federal court in Beaumont to 13 months and 18 months, respectively. They also were ordered to forfeit a residence and pay a $2.2 million judgment.
They both pleaded guilty in June to federal racketeering charges.
Prosecutors say the two enlisted workers for placement in Chinese restaurants in at least 20 states, including some as far away as Maine.
The couple was among about 30 people indicted in November 2013 on charges they transported and harbored people in the country illegally.
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