Former Twin Peaks owner pleads guilty to hiring illegal workers

The company that owned and ran a Wichita Twin Peaks restaurant caught employing illegal workers pleaded guilty to charges Thursday in federal court.

A lawyer for Le Grande Tetons LLC, entered the plea on the company’s behalf Thursday before U.S. magistrate Judge Gwynne Birzer in Wichita, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said. Birzer imposed a $50,000 fine, Grissom said, noting that companies or people caught in a pattern or practice of employing illegal workers can be fined up to $3,000 per worker.

Under an agreement that set forth the fine amount, prosecutors in exchange for a guilty plea agreed not to pursue any more charges against Le Grande Tetons, its owners or employees – current or former – except for two former managers who remain under investigation, Grissom said.

Le Grande Tetons has sold or is selling the Twins Peaks branch that is the subject of the federal lawsuit. It’s located at 8310 E. 21st St. in Wichita.

The company also runs a Twin Peaks near Maple and Ridge Road that was unaffected by the investigation.

The east Wichita Twins Peaks location came under scrutiny after an inspection in September 2013 by the Department of Homeland Security found the company was employing more than 20 illegal workers, mostly in its kitchen. The manager there agreed to fire the workers immediately, but Homeland Security later received information indicating several of the same workers had been rehired.

Authorities executed federal search warrants at both Wichita Twin Peaks locations in July.

Rick Warner, a Twin Peaks corporate spokesman, issued this statement:

"We approved the sale of this former franchise owner’s two restaurants in Wichita to KC Lodge Ventures, an excellent existing franchise partner, several weeks ago.  The actions of the former management team were unacceptable  and not how we do business at Twin Peaks. The KC Lodge team has been investing to refresh the restaurant, hire a completely new management team and staff, and are very excited to reopen the East Wichita location in mid-October with a new look and spirit."

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 2:50 PM with the headline "Former Twin Peaks owner pleads guilty to hiring illegal workers."