United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced today that Paul Younes, age 63 of Kearney, Nebraska, and Kearney Hospitality, Inc. were arraigned on charges related to the unlawful hiring of aliens.  Younes was charged with unlawful employment of aliens in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324a(a)(2) and (f)(1).  He faces a maximum sentence of six months imprisonment and a $3,000 fine.  Kearney Hospitality, Inc. was charged with harboring an alien in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv) and is subject to a term of probation of five years and a maximum fine of $500,000.  Both defendants entered pleas of guilty and sentencing has been set for May 9, 2016.

Younes is an officer and director of various corporations which own and/or run hotels in the District of Nebraska including the Holiday Inn Express in Hastings, Nebraska, and the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Kearney, Nebraska.  Kearney Hospitality, Inc. runs the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Kearney.

The investigation revealed that Blanca Gama, a citizen of Mexico who was not lawfully in the United States, was employed as the supervisor of housekeeping at the Holiday Inn Express in Hastings.  In 2014, Gama learned she was under investigation by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General.  Gama quit her job at the Holiday Inn Express, but later met with Younes who arranged for her to be employed in the housekeeping department at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Kearney under the name Elizabeth Gomez.  Younes was aware that this person had previously been employed under the name Blanca Gama.

Younes did not place Gomez on the regular payroll for the Fairfield Inn.  Rather, he treated her as an independent contractor even though she was the only person in the housekeeping department who was employed in that capacity.  Younes later authorized this person’s re-hire at the Holiday Inn Express in Hastings under the name Jacqueline Lopez even though she continued to be referred to as Blanca Gama at that location.

This case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement.