NEW YORK CITY — After pleading guilty to breaking labor laws, a former carwash and gas station owner here was sentenced to three years probation, and he must spend weekends in jail for the next four months, according to the New York Daily News.
The July 16 story said Alex Moreno, who owned the carwash in the Bronx, failed to pay his workers minimum wage. Washers claimed that Moreno paid them $4 an hour with no overtime for 12-hour days, six days a week.
“This carwash owner’s utter disregard for our labor laws resulted in a criminal conviction and landed him in jail,” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in the story. “This prosecution makes clear that dishonest employers of low-wage workers are not above the law.”
Moreno was arrested originally in 2009, and he pleaded guilty to underpaying employees, going without workers’ compensation insurance for five months and not listing employees when filing taxes. In addition to the jail time and probation, Moreno must pay workers $150,000 in restitution.
The carwash and gas station is currently listed for sale, and it is no longer owned by Moreno.
