James T. Jacks
Acting United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

DALLAS RESTAURANT OWNER SENTENCED TO 14 MONTHS
IN FEDERAL PRISON ON FRAUD AND FALSE STATEMENT CONVICTION

DALLAS — Gricelda Ramirez, the owner of Taqueria El Paisano, located at 2911 Lombardy Lane and 2829 West Northwest Highway in Dallas, was sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey to 14 months in federal prison following her guilty plea in October to one count of fraud and false statements, announced acting U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Ramirez has been in federal custody since she surrendered to federal authorities in June 2008. She is a U.S. citizen, but according to a detention order entered in the case, has lived in Mexico with her husband, a Mexican citizen, and her two children, who attend school in Mexico, since 2003.

According to the factual resume filed in the case, Ramirez admitted that she omitted reporting approximately $560,000 in her business’s 2005 gross receipts on her 2005 personal income tax return. Ramirez admitted that in 2005, her restaurant business had gross receipts of $1,056,201, when in reality, her business had gross receipts of at least $1,614,740.

As part of her plea agreement with the government, Ramirez has paid a total amount of $170,532 in restitution. This is the amount of federal income tax that was remaining due for the 2004 ($17,009) and 2005 ($153,523) tax years.

In addition, Ramirez has agreed to pay all state sales taxes due and owing for 2004 ($10,205.73) and 2005 (46,065.44) from the operation of her restaurant business.

According to court documents, including the complaint for forfeiture filed on October 13, 2006, and a detention order filed on June 21, 2008, during a narcotics investigation in 2006, federal agents seized approximately $1.4 million from a residence in Dallas, as well as financial records concerning Gricelda Ramirez and Taqueria El Paisano. As a result of the seizure, law enforcement began investigating Gricelda Ramirez’s restaurant.

The investigation of the seized financial records revealed that approximately $1.8 million in currency was deposited into three accounts at JP Morgan Chase from June 2005 through August 2006. Photographs and testimony provided by employees of JP Morgan Chase indicated that both Gricelda Ramirez and a relative made these deposits. During this time, no single deposit exceeding $10,000, (the reporting requirement) was made to any of the three accounts.

In August and September 2006, $1,023,990 was seized from three accounts at JP Morgan Chase in the name of Gricelda Ramirez or Taqueria El Paisano during the execution of federal search warrants. According to the complaint for forfeiture, federal income tax returns filed by Ramirez for 2002 - 2005, indicate that she operated Taqueria El Paisano as a sole proprietorship, and had no other income than that derived from the restaurants. The complaint for forfeiture further states that the total net profits reported on her 2002 - 2005 returns do not explain the large amount of currency seized in the case.

As a further part of her agreement with the government, Ramirez, desiring to settle all seizure and forfeiture matters concerning this case, including the government’s seizure of this $1,023,990 from these three JP Morgan Chase accounts and the resulting civil case, agrees to forfeit $900,000 of these funds. Following the forfeiture of this $900,000, she agrees that the remainder of the funds from these three JP Morgan Chase accounts be used to satisfy federal income taxes due and owing for tax years 2004 through 2007.

Acting U.S. Attorney Jacks praised the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI , IRS-CI North Texas Asset Forfeiture Task Force, the DEA, and the Dallas Police Department.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chad E. Meacham and John J. de la Garza III.

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