A Chula Vista businessman was sentenced May 17 to one year in federal prison and ordered to pay $372,125 to at least 52 airline mechanics who had paid him fees to help them become permanent U.S. residents or citizens.
Eleno Quinteros, Jr., 46, will surrender to prison on July 17. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Anello allowed him to remain free on $50,000 bond until then.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Pilchak sought a 15-month term while his attorney, Carson Baucher, recommended five years probation without any prison time.
There are 52 names listed in the restitution order and they are mechanics who were employed by several companies where Quinteros had been employed as vice president of operations. Quinteros lost his job as a result of his guilty plea to making false statements about certain immigration documents.
The specific false statement Quinteros admitted to saying was that he received no fees from the mechanics when in fact he had. Court documents say the average fee was $11,090 per person. The prosecutor said the mechanics made “severe sacrifices” in paying the fees to Quinteros.
Some of the money Quinteros collected was paid to attorneys who assisted the mechanics with their permanent resident petitions and other legal efforts. Most of them were able to become permanent residents or citizens, the defense said.
“My intentions were never to harm anyone. On the contrary, it was to unite families and bring stability to their lives,” wrote Quinteros in a letter to the judge.
“Now my priority and the right thing to do is to return each their money as soon as possible,” wrote Quinteros. “For this reason, I have been working hard all this time to accomplish big projects to create revenue.”
His lawyer wrote that Quinteros is “highly skilled at what he does” with over 27 years of experience in the aviation business. Quinteros is now starting a new business, called Sky Support Aviation, according to court documents.
This case has ruined his credit and caused him to declare bankruptcy, his attorney wrote in court papers. Quinteros’ house is in foreclosure proceedings and he is “targeted by creditors all the time.” He has also been sued.
Baucher had argued that Quinteros not receive any jail time so he can concentrate on working and paying restitution. Quinteros was the only person fired from both staffing companies as a result of the fee arrangement.
Quinteros recruited Mexican aircraft mechanics to work in the U.S. He helped them obtain work visas while they were performing heavy maintenance on aircraft at a variety of airfields nationwide. Quinteros directed many of these workers to pay him money by depositing funds into his wife’s bank account or provide him with blank money orders.
“Legal permanent residency in the United States is not a bargaining chip that greedy employers can sell to the highest bidder,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman.
“The Diplomatic Security Service is firmly committed top making sure that those who commit visa fraud face consequences for their criminal actions,” said Michael Bishop, special agent at the U.S. State Department.
