NASHVILLE – Five persons charged last year in an undocumented worker harboring scheme connected to eight mid-state restaurants, have pleaded guilty, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Jaworski.
In plea hearings concluded this week, Zhongzhi “Tommy” Zhuo, 46, Jianping “Alan” Zhuo, 37, both of Hendersonville, Tenn., and Jianhua “Jason” Zhuo, 35, of Gallatin, Tenn., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to harbor aliens; conspiracy to commit money laundering; and conspiracy to defraud the United States by failure to collect and pay employment taxes to the IRS. Zhongzhi Zhuo also pleaded guilty to two counts of harboring aliens, and failure to pay employment taxes. Lili Wu, 32, of Gallatin, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States by failure to collect and pay employment taxes to the IRS. Xiaofen “Joyce” Zhuo, 38, of Hendersonville, pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to defraud the United States by failure to collect and pay employment taxes to the IRS.
“These defendants profited by exploiting and concealing the existence of vulnerable people,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jaworski. “I commend our law enforcement partners for their tireless efforts to bring them to justice and to remove individuals from circumstances in which they were exploited.”
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