July 31, 2001

CENTRAL COAST RESTAURATEUR ADMITS TAX EVASION

 The owner of the Tio Alberto’s Mexican restaurant chain has pleaded guilty to tax evasion, admitting that he attempted to avoid the payment of taxes on $1.1 million in income he received during the 1990s.
 Jesse Albert Hernandez, 47, a resident of San Luis Obispo County, pleaded guilty to the felony charge Monday afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles.
 By pleading guilty, Hernandez admitted that the attempted to evade the payment of $432,653 in personal income taxes due for the years 1990 and 1991. The tax evasion charge also accused Hernandez of attempting to evade the payment of $127,881 in payroll taxes that were due to the government in 1993 and 1994.
 As part of a plea agreement with the government, prosecutors agreed to dismiss 17 counts of structuring financial transactions to avoid the reporting of cash transactions of more than $10,000.
 As a result of his guilty plea, Hernandez faces up to five years in federal prison when he is sentenced on October 22 by United States District Judge Margaret M. Morrow.
 This case is the product of an investigation by IRS Criminal Investigation.

 Release No. 01-115

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