By Ed White
Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — The owners of a Chinese restaurant pleaded guilty Wednesday to harboring five immigrants who died in a basement fire at a house in suburban Detroit.
Roger Tam and wife Ada Mei Lei said they knew a teenager and four young men from Mexico were in the U.S. illegally. But they insist they shouldn’t be held responsible for their deaths a year ago.
That issue will be critical when they’re sentenced on June 13. If a judge finds they’re responsible, Tam and Lei could face years in prison.
“It’s going to be a vigorous fight with the government,” said defense attorney Ray Cassar, who called the deaths a “tragic accident.”
“These were immigrants helping other immigrants,” he told The Associated Press, noting that Tam and Lei are naturalized U.S. citizens from China. “Mr. Tam cared a great deal about these people. This is not a case where a bus tipped over or a boat sank or he put them in a rat-infested hotel that collapsed.”
The January 2016 fire occurred in a comfortable neighborhood in Novi where some houses are worth more than $350,000. Investigators say the victims likely were overcome by smoke and couldn’t get up the stairs and out of the basement. Windows were made of glass block. The fire has been linked to careless smoking.
“The United States will seek a sentencing enhancement for creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to reflect the seriousness of the offense,” U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said in a written statement.
Tam, 56, and Lei, 49, answered a series of yes-or-no questions in court Wednesday. Tam regularly drove the five between the restaurant and the house, which he owned. They were paid cash while working at Kim’s Garden.
“Nobody wants to do that kind of work,” Cassar said.
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