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Bay Area Restaurant Owner Gets Prison Term For Hiring Illegal Immigrants

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) - The owner of a San Francisco Bay area restaurant chain has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for hiring illegal immigrants.

Besides the 41 months in prison, El Balazo restaurants owner Marino Sandoval must pay more than $2 million restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

His wife, Nicole Sandoval, was placed on five years' probation.

The Pleasanton couple pleaded guilty to knowingly hiring more than 100 illegal immigrants to work at their 11 taquerias, using phony Social Security numbers and filing false tax returns.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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