Claremore Man Accused Of Leading National Racketeering Operation Spanning 4 States

A Catoosa restaurant owner has been charged among 19 people US Attorneys say are involved in a racketeering, illegal immigration operation that spans nearly 20 years.

Thursday, August 26th 2021, 10:20 pm

By: Grant Stephens

CLAREMORE Oklahoma -

Federal prosecutors charged a Claremore man, who's accused of being the head of a national effort to smuggle immigrants into the country illegally.

Documents said the criminal network hid the immigrants in dozens of Mexican restaurants in several states.

Jose Luis Bravo is one of 19 people charged by a US Attorney in Missouri. Investigators say Bravo's operation spans at least four states and went on for nearly 20 years.

A detailed release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Missouri sheds light on the crime ring.

The document identifies 19 defendants from across the country and identifies 51-year-old Bravo, who runs the El Charro restaurant in Claremore, as the ringleader.

U.S. Attorneys accuse Bravo and his crew of setting up a network to smuggle immigrants in illegally into the country from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Investigators said the team would set up housing for the immigrants and put them to work in one of 45 of Bravo's restaurants in Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.

The release states Bravo set up multiple companies to run the restaurants in order to cover his tracks.

When the feds first started looking into some of the restaurants, the release said Bravo formed additional companies and changed others’ names to hide the network's involvement.

Prosecutors said a federal inspection of a restaurant in Kansas in 2018 revealed multiple workers living illegally in the U.S.

According to the release, a series of follow up investigations revealed Bravo's co-conspirators set up fake documents for the workers, coached restaurant staff how to hide them from the federal investigators, all while paying the workers less than they should have earned.

Federal agents have arrested 14 of the 19 defendants after coordinating a sting operation at ten different locations across three states this week.

Bravo is facing multiple charges involving identity fraud, conspiracy to transport aliens, and money laundering.