An illegal alien is accused of recruiting and hiring other illegal aliens to work at Zipps Restaurants across the Valley.
According to the Department of Justice, Diego Gonzalez-Rosales, 36, a Mexican national illegally residing in the United States, was charged by criminal complaint with Pattern and Practice of Knowingly Employing Unauthorized Aliens, Knowingly Making False Attestations on a Form I-9, Knowingly Transferring Mean of Identification Without Authority, and Aggravated Identity Theft.
As the individual responsible for hiring kitchen staff for all Zipps locations in Arizona, Gonzalez-Rosales is alleged to have recruited and hired illegal aliens at multiple locations, using fraudulent identification documents to verify their eligibility to work via the E-Verify online employment verification system.
Employees Edwin Flores Rosales, 28, Salvador Villenueva-Rosas, 48, and Ludwin Benjamin Perez Velasco, 22, all unlawfully present in the United States, have also been charged in criminal complaints for lying when filling out the Form I-9, stating they were U.S. citizens and using false identification and social security numbers.
In total, 39 individuals unlawfully present in the United States and working at Zipps were taken into custody during the operation.
According to the complaint and probable cause documents, in March 2025, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) served 14 Zipps locations, plus corporate headquarters, with a notice of inspection requiring the company to produce their Forms I-9, after receiving information alleging that employees may have been using fraudulent identification documents to verify their eligibility to work using the E-Verify system.
HSI later reviewed documents provided by the company that revealed alleged instances in which the name, social security number and date of birth on the forms were being misused to gain employment.
A review of employee wages identified 76 employees who had suspicious patterns of employment, showing between three and 42 active employers other than Zipps Sports Grill during the second quarter of 2025. These individuals certified themselves as U.S. citizens, which meant they were not required to list an Alien Registration Number on their Forms I-9, a form that verifies work eligibility of employees.
The review further showed multiple jobs and extremely high wages earned in the same quarter which is consistent with aggravated identity theft. In line with the patterns identified, Gonzalez-Rosales is alleged to have knowingly employed illegal aliens and assisted individuals in lying on their I-9 forms, claiming the individuals were U.S. citizens and using other individual’s names and identification to complete the forms for employment.
Democrats were outraged earlier this month when Special Agents with Homeland Security Investigations and the IRS-Criminal Investigation executed federal search warrants at 14 Zipps restaurants.
Two protestors were arrested, Matthew Drake, age 38, and Phoenix Waits, age 19. The two men are accused of felony charges after allegedly attacking officers during a protest against federal immigration raids at a Scottsdale Zipps Sports Grill on Jan. 26. Police said the men were part of a crowd of 100 people attempting to block a federal transport van, with Drake accused of shoving an officer and Waits accused of punching an officer in the face.
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