WICHITA, KAN. - An Olathe man was sentenced Wednesday to time served (three years) for cashing millions of dollars’ worth of checks to pay undocumented workers for installing drywall, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.
Jose Torres-Garcia, 53, Olathe, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of harboring or encouraging aliens to reside in the U.S. unlawfully and one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. In his plea, he admitted he cashed checks for construction crew leaders so they could pay themselves and their crews. Operating from his business at Boost Mobile, 1319 Santa Fe, Olathe, Kan., Torres-Garcia received checks made payable to “Jose R. Torres Drywall," even though he was not in the drywall business. He deposited the checks and distributed cash back to the crew leaders for distribution among the workers. Investigators determined that approximately $14 million passed through Torres-Garcia’s account in two years.
Beall commended Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson for their work on the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
