Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: News

The owner of El Vaquero restaurant and six other people have been indicted by a federal grand jury for charges involving the fraudulent use of Social Security numbers for employment.

Neftali Lopez, the 33-year-old owner of the Mexican restaurant, was arrested Friday after he was indicted by a federal grand jury on counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States, aggravated identity theft, Social Security fraud and harboring illegal immigrants. He is being held on $50,000 bond secured by property and will be arraigned today at 1 p.m.

Others who were indicted are Kirksville residents Zoraida Lopez, Julio Cesar Villa Navarro, Filemon Abrajan Beltran, Ambrocio Olvera Alvarez, Pedro Santos and Jesus Villalba Pedrosa - Neftali Lopez's brother-in-law.

"Additionally, Neftali and Zoraida Lopez are charged with concealing and shielding the undocumented workers from the detection of authorities," U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway, who is serving as the prosecutor in the case, stated in a press release.

Most of the arrests were made when the restaurant originally was shut down for one day, March 28, after the Social Security Administration, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers executed a search warrant and took 10 people into custody. Neftali Lopez, who goes by Taly, was in Tennessee when the raid occurred, he said.

Additionally, three other detained men will be deported today or tomorrow, according to court documents. Enrique Teodoro Xolio, Emilio Miquel Florentino and Espiridion Lopez Hernandez were detained but not indicted, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement has "instituted removal proceedings," according to the documents.

The indictment alleges that from late June 2004 to early March 2008, Lopez and one other person whose name was redacted hired the six indicted men knowing they were in the country illegally, told their employees to "obtain false and fraudulent Social Security cards and resident alien cards" and gave their employees information about distributors of those falsified cards.

Among the charges is the knowing use of Social Security numbers not issued to the defendants but to someone else by the SSA. Taly and Zoraida Lopez also falsely certified IRS documents, the indictment charges.

If convicted, each of the charges carries the following maximum penalties: conspiracy to defraud, five years in prison and/or fines of up to $250,000; aggravated identity theft, mandatory two years in prison consecutive to other prison terms and/or fines up to $250,000; Social Security fraud, five years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000; identity theft, 15 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000 and harboring illegal aliens, five years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000.

Lopez's attorney, Clayton, Mo.,-based Bret Rich, declined comment, and representatives from the U.S. Attorney's office did not immediately return phone calls.

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