Bakery owners found guilty of harboring illegal aliens after immigration raid

An immigration raid at a Texas bakery led to the owners of the business being found guilty of harboring illegal aliens.

The two owners of Abby’s Bakery and Dulce’s Café in Los Fresnos face up to 10 years in federal prison and may possibly lose their own residency status when sentenced.

‘I believe these laws were supposed to target international criminal organizations, stash houses, human trafficking.’

A federal jury deliberated for about three hours before finding 56-year-old Leonardo Baez-Lara and 46-year-old Alicia Avila-Guel guilty of two counts of harboring aliens and conspiracy to harbor aliens. Baez-Lara and Avila-Guel are legal permanent residents and have been running the bakery since 2012.

The raid was conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney General’s Office of Southern Texas.

They found evidence that the couple was harboring illegal aliens and others who had visas to be in the U.S. but not to legally work. Between five and six workers were made to live in a small room by the bakery under dangerous conditions, including the head baker, who lived there for more than two years.

Defense attorney Cesar De Leon said the couple were considering their legal options.

“We believe that these were hardworking people, and they employed hardworking employees, and they were just here to make a better living,” De Leon said to KRGV-TV. “I believe these laws were supposed to target international criminal organizations, stash houses, human trafficking.”

The couple is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 18. In addition to prison time, they could be fined up to $250,000.

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The DOJ said the case was a part of the administration’s Operation Take Back America.

“The jury’s verdict affirms that the defendants knowingly conspired to harbor individuals in the country illegally, committed two separate acts of harboring, and did so for personal financial gain,” reads a statement from Craig Larrabee of HSI.

“This conviction sends a clear message: Those who engage in human smuggling and harboring for financial benefit will be investigated, prosecuted, and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” the statement reads.

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