A restaurant owner accused of paying smugglers to transport illegal aliens from Mexico to work for him will spend more than a year in prison.

Alvaro Morales Munoz of Parkersburg was sentenced to one year
and three months Friday in U-S District Court on a money laundering
charge. He also must pay a ten-thousand-dollar fine and forfeit
400-thousand dollars in cash and assets.

Munoz had pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to commit money laundering.

He owns and operates El Ranchero Mexican Restaurant in Parkersburg and is a partner in three other restaurants in Martinsburg, Winchester, Virginia, and Johnson City, Tennessee.

The U-S Attorney's Office says Munoz created fake payroll checks
and underpaid his largely illegal alien workforce.

The manager of the Parkersburg restaurant also was sentenced
Firday. Armanda Arrellano of Parkersburg received six months
probation for failing to report the illegal alien scheme.