Cesar Campos-Reyes, 52, the owner of several Mexican restaurants in Alabama including El Patron, pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud, money laundering and employing unauthorized workers on Sept. 9. Last July, Campos-Reyes was arrested following an ICE and FBI raid at several of his properties. Prosecutors say he used pandemic relief money to buy property and knowingly employed workers not legally allowed to work inside the U.S.
Campos-Reyes, a naturalized U.S. citizen and Auburn resident, initially pleaded not guilty to all charges at his initial appearance in federal court on July 18, 2025, after his arrest three days earlier. On July 15, 2025, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies had executed search warrants at 14 locations associated with Campos-Reyes, including eight restaurants, across six Alabama counties.
Also on July 15, 2025, Campos-Reyes’s brother-in-law, Isaac Fernandez-Lopez, was charged with harboring and unlawfully employing migrants. Several of the nine employees also detained on that day, who federal authorities say were living in the country illegally, claimed he was the manager at El Patron Mexican Grill in Opelika. Fernandez-Lopez was later released on July 28, 2025, after a judge ruled that there was no probable cause to convict Lopez.
According court documentation related to Campos-Reyes’ guilty plea, in May 2020, Campos-Reyes fraudulently applied for funds through the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program. On March 27, 2020, the 116th Congress established these programs under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide financial relief to small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its related economic slowdown. He received about $866,500 in funds and has now admitted that he did not use the relief funds for their intended purposes.
Instead, he used $262,145.20 to purchase property in Opelika. Additionally, Campos-Reyes admitted that up until his July detainment, he knowingly hired and employed workers at his restaurants who were not permitted to work in the U.S.
“Federal COVID relief funds were intended to help legitimate businesses and their employees, not to be diverted for personal gain or used to support an unlawful workforce,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas Govan in a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Alabama. “This defendant defrauded programs designed to assist American businesses, misused taxpayer-funded assistance and knowingly employed individuals who were not authorized to work in the United States. We will continue to hold accountable those who abuse federal programs and violate federal law.”
According to FBI and HSI agents assigned to the case, Campos-Reyes, by exploiting federal programs, harmed the legitimate businesses and employees the COVID relief funds were intended to support.
“Fraudulently obtaining pandemic relief funds and knowingly employing unauthorized workers undermines both the integrity of federal programs and the rule of law. HSI will continue to work with our federal, state and local partners to investigate individuals who exploit taxpayer-funded programs and violate our nation’s employment laws for personal gain,” said HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Ellen Johnson.
Campos-Reyes was not charged with any drug-trafficking related charges despite numerous guns and drugs retrieved during the July 2025 raid of his properties. Authorities state these items belong to one single individual living at one of Campos-Reyes properties.
The US Attorney’s Office claims that this operation has President Trump to thank for Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, which established the Homeland Security Task Force initiative.
“The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama stated. “Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children.”
The sentencing hearing for Campos-Reyes will be scheduled soon. At this forthcoming hearing, Campos-Reyes faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud, up to 10 years for money laundering and up to six months for unlawful employment of migrants. In addition, he faces substantial fines and forfeiture of proceeds seized during the investigation.
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