New Haven Independent

Jose Calhelha (pictured above, with back turned to camera), 47, of Guilford, pleaded guilty in December to recruiting and harboring six undocumented workers to work in his 10 area Dunkin’ Donuts stores. His daughter, Diana, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of hiring an illegal alien.

Since Jose Calhelha arrived in the U.S. at age 13, he worked his way up the Dunkin’ Donuts ladder to a place of wealth and high standing in the Portuguese-American community. Supporters, mostly Portuguese, packed a balmy courtroom at U.S. District Court in New Haven Monday, filling rows shoulder to shoulder and spilling into a hallway for the sentencing before Judge Arterton (pictured).

Government prosecutors argued that after he worked his way to the top and became owner of a chain of stores, he enticed other immigrants to work for him as “indentured servants,” charging them to work up to 80 hours a week, and housing them at his Guilford home. A one-day raid by the Dunkin’ Donuts parent company revealed 52 undocumented workers in his 10 stores in Branford, Old Saybrook, Derby, East Haven and Westbrook. Calhelha paid Dunkin’ Brands a hefty $1.5 million and lost ownership of the stores.

Click here to read the government sentencing memo, which blasts the defendants for not expressing remorse.

Government prosecutors found out about the illegal workers after Channel 8 aired interviews with workers who claimed to be working long hours without proper pay. Workers had fled the site by the time a federal investigation began, making witnesses difficult to find. But prosecutor Krishna Patel charged Calhelha had put out ads in Portuguese newspapers seeking managers at Dunkin’ Donuts stores, then smuggled at least six undocumented aliens, harboring them at his Guilford home and in a rented apartment, and giving them jobs in his stores.

Was he giving them a chance for a new life, or exploiting them for their position? The question was a subject of great dispute in court Monday.

Calhelha’s lawyer, William Dow III, contended Calhelha had been carrying on a tradition of immigration like that of Sicilians to New Haven. Once Calhelha was established as a wealthy business owner in Connecticut, “it’s logical he would extend himself to members of the Portuguese community” back home. Dow expressed concern his client was becoming a “poster boy” for increased enforcement of immigration laws by targeting employers.

Back in Portugal, the man’s name has been soiled, he said. Dow denied the government’s charges that Calhelha took advantage of workers for financial gain, threatened them with violence or treated them “like animals.” Presenting a half-dozen former Dunkin’ Donuts employees to attest to Calhelha’s years of hard work sweeping floors and sprinkling donuts with jimmies, Dow contended: “If he’s rich — and he is, he’s done well — it’s because of his hard work, nothing else.”

Upon sentencing the accused, Arterton weighed in on the item of dispute: “It is the conclusion of the court that there has been some sense of exploitation, to some employees.” Blasting Calhelha’s purported confusion at immigration laws, Arterton charged he had taken advantage of those he lured into the U.S. “Illegal aliens are uniquely vulnerable,” she said.

She sentenced him to 10 months in prison with two years’ supervised release. He has already paid a $1 million judgment to the U.S. government. His daughter, Diana, a college student, was sentenced to 250 hours of community service and one month of home confinement.

“I understand what I did was wrong,” Diana Calhelha told the court, breaking down in tears before the judge. “I promise to never stand before this court again.”

“I am truly sorry,” said Jose Calhelha before his sentencing. “I believe I was giving them some opportunity to work hard and succeed.”

In deciding on an incarceration date, Calhelha huddled with Dow. He asked for July 3, which the judge approved.

“Can I stay for the Fourth of July?” Calhelha then whispered to Dow, a little too close to the court microphone. Arterton granted his request.