CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — A Honduran man living illegally in West Virginia has been assigned a detainer and will be transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for removal following the search of a Kanawha County restaurant earlier this year, prosecutors said.
Pablo Dominguez, 40, pleaded guilty to reentry of a removed alien and was sentenced to time served, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.
The news release said on Jan. 16, ICE searched the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant in Nitro where the man was working.
Investigators determined Dominguez had no identifying documents and had previously been deported from the United States after being found in Dunbar back in 2017.
Federal prosecutors said Dominguez was among six foreign nationals indicted on charges alleging they were working at the restaurant without legal status.
This spring, 22-year-old Alfredo Cruz-Perez and 26-year-old Rufino Hernandez pleaded guilty to fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents.
In addition, 27-year-old Rosmery Morales-Mejia admitted she and her husband, 42-year-old Wilmar Aristo Pablos-Miguel purchased counterfeit Permanent Resident and Social Security cards. Prosecutors said the couple used the falsified documents to secure employment while renting a nearby room from Rio Grande owner Miguel Aguirre-Arello.
Aguirre-Arello, 65, and his son, 43-year-old restaurant manager Miguel Angel Aguirre have been indicted on charges of aiding and abetting alien harboring.
The search was conducted by ICE with assistance from state and local agencies as part of Operation Country Roads which saw 650 arrests statewide in January.
