Particle.news

Zipps Sports Grill Hiring Manager Set to Plead Guilty in Identity Fraud Case

The planned plea follows HSI raids across 14 Phoenix-area locations after a year-long investigation into alleged use of stolen identities to pass work checks.

Overview

  • Federal filings show Diego Gonzalez-Rosales will enter a change of plea on March 10 after initially pleading not guilty earlier this month.
  • Gonzalez-Rosales is set to plead to unlawful transfer, possession, or use of a means of identification, a Class C felony carrying up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
  • Court documents state he understands the conviction is a removable offense and that his deportation is “practically inevitable.”
  • HSI led Jan. 26 searches at 14 Zipps restaurants in metro Phoenix, with 39 workers taken into custody during the operation.
  • Investigators served I-9 inspection notices and later flagged 76 employees for suspicious multi-employer wage patterns, and three workers were charged for allegedly lying on Form I-9s.