Lopez takes plea agreement
Julie Williams
Issue date: 10/30/08 Section: News
A local restaurant owner signed a plea agreement Oct. 8 in U.S. District Court, Eastern District, that dismissed 41 of 42 counts stemming from the employment of undocumented workers.
Neftali Lopez, owner of El Vaquero Mexican restaurant, entered a voluntary guilty plea to Count 11 of the charge. Counts one through 10 and 12 through 42 will be dismissed at the time of sentencing, according to the plea agreement. The count Lopez will be sentenced for is based on acts he committed "with the purpose of obtaining anything of value, or for any other reason; intention to deceive; aided, abetted, counseled and adduced another individual to falsely represent a number to be the Social Security account number assigned by the Commissioner of Social Security to him and the number was not the Social Security account number assigned by the Commissioner of Social Security to the individual assisted by the defendant," according to the agreement.
Lopez had been receiving letters from the Social Security Administration since 2001 stating that he was "employing individuals at the Kirksville restaurant whose names did not match the Social Security numbers reported by the restaurant to the Internal Revenue Service and the State of Missouri Department of Unemployment Compensation," accord-ing to the plea agreement. As many as 70 of Lopez's employees fit that description during the last seven years, and Lopez is also known to have provided his sister Zoraida Lopez with improperly prepared work documents for her intimate partner Jesus Villalba Pedrosa. Lopez also continued to employ Villalba Pedrosa at El Vaquero knowing he was using a false Social Security number, according to the agreement.
Lopez originally was taken into custody April 11 after a federal grand jury issued indictments on counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States, aggravated identity theft, Social Security fraud and harboring illegal immigrants, according to the April 17 issue of the Index.
Assistant U.S. attorney Tracy Berry referred the Index to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office, who said Lopez's sentencing will take place Jan. 6, 2009, and that he has been released on an existing bond until then.
The maximum sentence for the count that Lopez is pleading guilty to is imprisonment of not more than five years, a fine of not more than $250,000 or both, according to the agreement.
An El Vaquero manager said Tuesday that El Vaquero was closing, but declined to comment further. By Wednesday, "Closed" signs were posted on the restaurant's front doors.
Lopez also owned or operated restaurants in Mexico, Mo., Hannibal, Mo., St. Peters, Mo., and Wentzville, Mo. between Jan.1, 2000 and Mar. 28, 2008, according to the plea agreement.
Bret Rich, an attorney based in Clayton, Mo., who is representing Lopez, could not be reached for comment.
Neftali Lopez, owner of El Vaquero Mexican restaurant, entered a voluntary guilty plea to Count 11 of the charge. Counts one through 10 and 12 through 42 will be dismissed at the time of sentencing, according to the plea agreement. The count Lopez will be sentenced for is based on acts he committed "with the purpose of obtaining anything of value, or for any other reason; intention to deceive; aided, abetted, counseled and adduced another individual to falsely represent a number to be the Social Security account number assigned by the Commissioner of Social Security to him and the number was not the Social Security account number assigned by the Commissioner of Social Security to the individual assisted by the defendant," according to the agreement.
Lopez had been receiving letters from the Social Security Administration since 2001 stating that he was "employing individuals at the Kirksville restaurant whose names did not match the Social Security numbers reported by the restaurant to the Internal Revenue Service and the State of Missouri Department of Unemployment Compensation," accord-ing to the plea agreement. As many as 70 of Lopez's employees fit that description during the last seven years, and Lopez is also known to have provided his sister Zoraida Lopez with improperly prepared work documents for her intimate partner Jesus Villalba Pedrosa. Lopez also continued to employ Villalba Pedrosa at El Vaquero knowing he was using a false Social Security number, according to the agreement.
Lopez originally was taken into custody April 11 after a federal grand jury issued indictments on counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States, aggravated identity theft, Social Security fraud and harboring illegal immigrants, according to the April 17 issue of the Index.
Assistant U.S. attorney Tracy Berry referred the Index to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office, who said Lopez's sentencing will take place Jan. 6, 2009, and that he has been released on an existing bond until then.
The maximum sentence for the count that Lopez is pleading guilty to is imprisonment of not more than five years, a fine of not more than $250,000 or both, according to the agreement.
An El Vaquero manager said Tuesday that El Vaquero was closing, but declined to comment further. By Wednesday, "Closed" signs were posted on the restaurant's front doors.
Lopez also owned or operated restaurants in Mexico, Mo., Hannibal, Mo., St. Peters, Mo., and Wentzville, Mo. between Jan.1, 2000 and Mar. 28, 2008, according to the plea agreement.
Bret Rich, an attorney based in Clayton, Mo., who is representing Lopez, could not be reached for comment.
Be the first to comment on this story