Restaurant owner, managers plead guilty in overtime case Bizjournals.com
Martin David Gonzales, Leonard R. and Frances Lucy Gallardo Jr. entered guilty pleas and were sentenced in a case related to failure to pay overtime at restuarants in Scottsdale and Anthem.
The two restaurants were named Pinata Nueva, but the Scottsdale business recently sold and is under new ownership.
Gonzales, who owned the restaurants at the time, pleaded guilty to attempted forgery and was sentenced to two years of supervised probation and 100 hours of community service, according to an announcement Wednesday by Attorney General Terry Goddard. The Gallardos, who managed the restaurants, were each sentenced to one year probation and 40 hours of community service for tampering with a witness.
The corporation, Pinata Nueva LLC of Anthem, was convicted of fraudulent schemes and artifices. Defendants were jointly ordered to pay a fine of $38,078 to the U.S. Department of Labor and restitution of $11,247 to the employees.
An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that the restaurants owed back wages of $38,078 to 38 employees for unpaid overtime. Gonzales initially asserted that the firm had paid the wages and provided false documents as proof of payment, the department said.
