Zipps hiring manager who oversaw illegal hiring across 14 locations pleads guilty

PHOENIX — A Zipps Sports Grill hiring manager who was arrested during federal raids of the restaurant chain in January pleaded guilty to identity fraud, according to newly released federal court documents.

Diego Armando Gonzalez-Rosales, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful transfer or possession of a means of identification. U.S. Magistrate Judge Alison S. Bachus recommended that District Judge Dominic W. Lanza accepted the guilty plea.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, but under the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to seek no more than five months.

Gonzalez-Rosales was originally charged with knowingly hiring employees living in the country illegally, falsifying I-9 forms and aggravated identity theft.

What led to the Zipps hiring manager pleading guilty?

The Jan. 26 raids saw dozens of Homeland Security Investigations and IRS-Criminal Investigation agents enter 14 Zipps Sports Grill locations simultaneously across the Valley. An employee at one restaurant told KTAR News 92.3 FM that 20 to 30 agents arrived suddenly, startling staff and customers.

Gonzalez-Rosales was among 39 people taken into custody during the raids, which were part of a yearlong investigation into unlawful employment, identity theft and document fraud.

Prosecutors said Gonzalez-Rosales, who is living in the U.S. illegally, was in charge of hiring kitchen staff across all of Zipps’ Arizona locations. He allegedly recruited workers who lacked legal status and helped them use fraudulent documents to gain employment.

Three other employees arrested in the raids — 28-year-old Edwin Flores Rosales, 48-year-old Salvador Villanueva-Rosas and 22-year-old Ludwin Benjamin Perez Valasco — are facing charges of falsifying I-9 forms and identity theft. Their cases remain pending.

Gonzalez-Rosales’ case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

KTAR News 92.3 FM reached out to Gonzalez-Rosales’ attorney, but is awaiting a response.

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