JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A husband and wife are facing possible charges after they were accused by federal agents of harboring illegal immigrants in their home.
The couple, Xiu Rong Liu and Liang Wu Yang, are U.S. citizens and own the Fujiyama Steakhouse in the River City Marketplace on the Northside, which was raided in July.
DOCUMENT: Criminal complaint for harboring illegal aliens
Agents with the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement began investigating the couple's Tori Lane home after receiving a tip about the possibility of a Guatemalan national smuggling a 16-year-old girl into the country, according to a criminal complaint.
Instead, the agents found eight people at the home and mattresses on the floor of the formal dining room, which had been converted to a makeshift bedroom, the complaint said.
Of the eight people in the home, six are in the country illegally: five from Indonesia and one from Guatemala, the agents said.
Investigators said they learned that the six illegal aliens worked at the couple's restaurant and lived at the house rent free.
All six were detained and questioned.
Their current status can't be disclosed, according to an ICE representative, but investigators said immigration officials will work on deporting them.
The complaint indicates that investigators believe there is probable cause to charge Liu and Yang with harboring or concealing illegal immigrants. They are not being detained right now.
One neighbor said had no complaints about the people who live at the Tori Lane home, saying that they would come out, get into a van, go to work and come back. He said they remained quiet and kept up the house.
Liu and the couple's attorney both declined to comment when reached by News4Jax.
A representative from ICE said the agency can't comment because the investigation is ongoing. Investigators said they are still looking for the 16-year-old girl from the initial tip.
The couple's only previous history with law enforcement involved some minor traffic citations.