PORTLAND, Maine (AP) _ The owners of several Mexican restaurants in Maine have pleaded guilty to hiring 10 or more people who were living in the U.S. illegally and to making false statements to federal agents.
U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty II said brothers Guillermo and Hector Fuentes entered the guilty pleas on Monday.
The two were convicted in 2013 of conspiracy, harboring undocumented workers for profit, and aiding and abetting document fraud. But a new trial was ordered after it was learned that one of the jurors used a racial slur to describe the defendants.
The brothers face up to five years in prison when they're sentenced.
The guilty pleas related to activities at the Fajita Grill in Westbrook and at the Cancun Mexican Restaurant in Waterville. The two also owned a Biddeford restaurant.