BIDDEFORD — Two brothers who admitted hiring illegal immigrants at their Mexican restaurants in Maine, including one in Biddeford, were sentenced to prison on Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland.

Hector Fuentes, of Waterville, who owned the Cancun Mexican Restaurant in Waterville and the Cancun Mexican Restaurant II in Biddeford, was sentenced to 30 months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release, according to U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty II.

His brother, Guillermo Fuentes, of Westbrook, who owned the Fajita Grill in Westbrook, was sentenced to 37 months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release.

Both were ordered to forfeit more than $48,000 that was seized in connection with the investigation.

The two men pleaded guilty on June 16 to knowingly hiring 10 or more illegal immigrants in a 12-month period and making false statements to federal agents.

According to court documents, the employment charge relates to hiring practices at the Fajita Grill restaurant in Westbrook. The false statement charge arises from statements made by the brothers to agents in September 2011, following their arrests.

The men falsely stated that federally required documentation regarding the immigration status of their employees at the Fajita Grill and Cancun Mexican Restaurant in Waterville had been properly completed, according to court documents.

The investigation of the restaurants began in 2008 after a routine traffic stop of several Hispanic men who said they were from Mexico and couldn’t provide any U.S. identification documents. Authorities believed the men all worked at The Fajita Grill. The Westbrook Police Department then began a criminal investigation of the restaurant.

The investigation also expanded to include Hector Fuentes and his Waterville and Biddeford restaurants.

In his affidavit filed with the court, Special Agent James Bell, with the Department of Homeland Security, detailed his interviews with four individuals who stated they were employed by the Fuentes brothers. All four stated they were Mexican citizens unlawfully present in the U.S.

Some said when they were hired, they weren’t required to present identification. Others said they were told to make up Social Security numbers. Several said they had discussed their illegal status in the U.S. with one or both of the brothers, according to Bell.

All four also said that they and others temporarily resided, rent-free, in the basement of the Fajita Grill, where they slept on cardboard and blankets, and used buckets of water to bathe, according to Bell.

In an interview with Westbrook Code Enforcement Officer Richard Gouzie, Bell said Gouzie discovered evidence that someone was living in the basement of the Fajita Grill. Guillermo Fuentes told Gouzie that employees used the basement as a rest area, according to Bell.

The brothers were arrested, and federal raids were conducted at both of those restaurants in September 2011, as well as the Cancun Mexican Restaurant ll in Biddeford.

In 2013, the two men were convicted of conspiracy, harboring undocumented workers for profit, and aiding and abetting document fraud.

After it was learned that one of the jurors used a racial slur to describe the defendants, a new trial was

ordered, according to Associated Press reports.

Agencies involved in the investigation included the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or [email protected].