By Crescenzo Vellucci
The Vanguard Sacramento Bureau Chief
SACRAMENTO, CA – A 26-page federal grand jury indictment was unsealed Friday that could lead to Sacramento City Councilperson Sean Loloee spending up to 20 years in federal prison – he was to surrender himself and be arraigned late Friday at the U.S. courthouse here.
The indictment links to a story first covered years ago by The Vanguard. https://davisvanguard.org/2020/02/latino-viva-supermarket-employees-file-suit-against-tyrant-owner-sacramento-city-council-candidate/
As noted in The Vanguard’s coverage of complaints by immigration rights activists, Loloee has been under investigation by federal agents for years.
He was sued by the U.S. Department of Labor in April 2022 over claims by labor activists he threatened to report workers at his supermarket chain over their immigration status.
He also has been accused in court documents of destroying evidence related to his businesses during the investigation.
Loloee, according to the indictment, is charged with multiple counts of holding false immigration document, using false immigration papers, falsifying records, wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Dept. of Labor.
Also indicted was the general manager of Loloee’s four supermarkets, Karla Montoya, who allegedly hired employees with improper immigration documents, using false documents to work in the U.S.
U.S. Attorney Phil Talbert’s office said in a statement the two “face a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of conspiracy to defraud the Department of Labor, to commit immigration document fraud, and to obstruct justice; up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of possession of false immigration documents or use of a false immigration document; and up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of obstruction of agency proceedings.
“If convicted of the counts of falsification of records or wire fraud, Loloee faces a maximum statutory penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.”
“By maintaining a workforce of undocumented workers, Loloee enriched himself in various ways, including by not paying them overtime wages that would otherwise be required,” according to the indictment.
The federal action added, “Montoya, at Loloee’s direction, regularly hired undocumented workers at the Viva Supermarkets because it was Loloee’s view that undocumented workers were easier to control. Loloee had knowledge of the practice of hiring undocumented workers and himself reviewed job.”
Labor activists who spoke to The Vanguard nearly four years ago confirmed the indictment claim Loloee – elected to the city council in 2020 – used “atmosphere of intimidation” by threatening immigration consequences, and using this system of “maintaining an undocumented labor force in all Viva Supermarkets across many years.”
“In some instances, Montoya directed job candidates who admitted that they did not possess lawful employment authorization documents to obtain fraudulent documents from locations in south Sacramento,” the indictment explained.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg in a statement Friday said, “The charges are very troubling,” Steinberg said. “I talked to the council member this morning and will be speaking with him throughout the day. He has the right to due process, and he also has an obligation to do the right thing by District 2 and by the city. I expect the situation to be resolved within the next 24 hours.”
The Sacramento Bee wrote, Loloee, who has been under pressure to resign following federal raids on his grocery stores and homes in October, “already has said he does not intend to run for re-election next year. He has another year on his current term, which ends in December 2024.”
The indictment said Loloee and Montoya instructed workers not to cooperate with investigators and lie, and directed some workers to impersonate investigators “in order to gather information and identify other employees who cooperated with the agency’s investigation.”
The Bee reported the indictment “also accuses Loloee of providing false information to obtain COVID-19 relief money, submitting an application stating that his company’s 2020 gross receipts were $3.8 million when they actually were $5.8 million,” and the city of Sacramento also granted Loloee a $25,000 forgivable economic relief loan using coronavirus federal grant money.
The indictment said some of Loloee’s employes were told to cash their checks with a Western Union Office in his stores – and the store collected a two percent fee for cashing them.
The indictment said the Labor Department investigated Loloee’s supermarkets three times, beginning in 2008, and filed an April 2022 lawsuit seeking payment of $1.5 million in back wages and penalties.
