Leon fined for hiring illegal immigrants at Midlands restaurants

Greg Leon, owner of eight Mexican restaurants in the Midlands, was fined $180,000 Thursday and put on probation for a year for hiring illegal immigrants.

U.S. Judge Joseph Anderson agreed to those penalties as part of a deal Leon reached with prosecutors.

The cooperation of Leon in the corruption investigation that led to a guilty plea from former Lexington County Sheriff James Metts “has to count for something,” Anderson said.

Leon, of Lexington, pleaded guilty Nov. 18 to hiring 60 workers that he knew were in this country illegally at some of the Midlands’ San Jose restaurants, in Newberry, Lexington, Richland and Orangeburg counties.

He agreed to pay a fine within 10 days that Anderson called “hefty.” But he avoided time in prison.

The most time in prison that Leon faced was six months since the hirings are a misdemeanor, the judge said.

Leon said little during the brief hearing except to apologize for hiring workers from his native Mexico without proper work credentials. “I’m sorry for what I did,” he told the judge.

The latest penalty for Leon comes after he previously admitted paying Metts bribes to free restaurant workers from the jail that the ex-sheriff oversaw. Metts is in prison for interfering with the handling of two detainees at the jail in 2011.

Those payments were “a huge mistake,” said Dick Harpootlian, Leon’s lawyer.

Federal prosecutors agreed to the fine and probation for the hirings because Leon readily admitted paying the money to Metts and otherwise assisted in that investigation, assistant U.S. Attorney James May said.

It’s clear that Leon’s help in the Metts investigation was “of substantial benefit,” Anderson said.

Leon was sentenced in that case to five years’ probation and 200 hours of community service in state court for paying bribes.

He has completed the community service, Harpootlian said without specifying what work was done.

In 2012, Leon and two family members agreed to pay 37 employees $390,960 in back wages following an investigation by federal labor officials that found overtime, minimum wage and record-keeping violations at four restaurants.

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Leon fined for hiring illegal immigrants at Midlands restaurants."