Another man pleads guilty in IHOP case
5/16/2013The third of 18 people charged in a scheme involving illegal hiring practices at area International House of Pancake restaurants operated by Tarek Elkafrawi pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court.
Yoni Merida, 31, of Evansville, Ind., pleaded guilty to two counts of identity theft before Judge David Katz. Merida, who was the manager of the IHOP in Evansville, admitted he used a false Social Security number to get double checks, federal prosecutors said.
Mr. Elkafrawi, of Wood County’s Middleton Township, and 17 others were indicted last year on charges including money laundering, harboring illegal immigrants, wire fraud, and arson in connection with IHOPs in Toledo, and Sylvania, Perrysburg, and Springfield townships, and elsewhere.