PORTLAND — Eight Mexican and Guatemalan citizens arrested during the Sept. 21 raids of three Maine Mexican restaurants are facing criminal charges, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The immigrants were employees of Fajita Grill in Westbrook and Cancun Mexican restaurants in Waterville and Biddeford.

U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty II announced today that six of the restaurant workers were charged with possession of false lawful permanent resident and Social Security cards. They were Santos Herasmo Elias-Lopez, Esteban Lopez-Cruz, Salvador Carmona-Ramirez, Enrique Ruiz-De La Cruz, Ernesto Bravo-Rodriguez and Arturo Serrato-Rodriguez.

Two workers, Zaqueo Nectali Elias-Lopez and Catalino Lopez-Gomez, were charged with possession of false documents and unlawful presence in the United States after having been removed.

The maximum penalty for possession of false documents is 10 years in prison. A charge of unlawful presence in the United States carries a maximum prison sentence of two years. Each count also carries a fine of up to $250,000.

Also arrested in the raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were the restaurants’ owners, Guillermo and Hector Fuentes, who are facing charges of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens and employment of illegal aliens.

The restaurants closed after the raids, but Fajita Grill and Cancun in Waterville have since reopened. No one answered the telephone at Cancun in Biddeford on this afternoon.

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