By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A kitchen manager at Zipps Sports Grill was sentenced to five months in federal custody months after ICE raids at the popular Valley sports bar chain led to protests and dozens of arrests.
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Diego Armando Gonzalez-Rosales, the highest-level employee to face charges in the case, pleaded guilty in March as part of a deal with prosecutors. Court documents show Gonzalez-Rosales is also in the country illegally.
Timeline of the investigation
Court documents provide a timeline of the federal investigation. ICE received a tip in February 2025 that Zipps was using undocumented workers. In March, agents issued a Notice of Inspection to all Zipps locations and their corporate headquarters.
Ten months later, search warrants and the raid followed.
Manager’s role in hiring scheme
Records show Gonzalez-Rosales told investigators he was promoted within the past year to oversee the kitchen staff. He admitted that on Oct. 17, 2024, he sent a photograph via text message to Miguel Torres that included an Arizona driver’s license and Social Security card for “JJZ”.
According to court documents, Gonzalez-Rosales stated that JJZ was a real individual who had applied to work at Zipps. He sent the identification to Torres to obtain employment with Zipps.
Court documents show ICE arrested 39 undocumented immigrants working at Zipps in all.
Darius Amiri, an immigration attorney, said he spoke with several of those arrested.
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“The concern was just kind of what was going to happen to me in terms of the criminal side, am I going to be sentenced, am I going to be in prison?” Amiri said. “And following that, if and when I go to ICE, what happens there?”
Amiri said the sentence seemed like a reasonable conclusion to what happened.
Gonzalez-Rosales is fighting possible deportation. Amiri said his chances of remaining in the country are tough given the current climate.
Emails to the US Attorney’s Office and Gonzalez-Rosales’s attorney have not been returned.
Zipps declined to comment.
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