Salinas restaurant owner sentenced to jail for illegal alcohol sales, insurance fraud

The owner of a Salinas restaurant has been sentenced to jail time for illegal alcohol sales and insurance fraud.

45-year-old Fernando Jimenez Hernandez owned Tacos Acambaro. In January 2017, 20-year-old Abraham Requena went to the restaurant, and Hernandez let him buy beer throughout the evening. Requena died in a crash while driving home, and his blood alcohol level when he died was .27.

The District Attorney’s Office investigated a second criminal case against Hernandez as well. Investigators found that Hernandez operated his business without workers compensation insurance and paid employees in cash without withholding payroll taxes. In March 2019, Hernandez pleaded no contest to 3 felonies and 1 misdemeanor.

Hernandez was sentenced to 1 year in county jail for giving alcohol to a person under 21 who dies after drinking. He also received a 5-year term of felony probation for four counts of insurance and tax fraud. If Hernandez violates the terms of his probation, he will face 6 years and 6 months in prison.