Local Tortilla Magnate Jailed and Fined

The owner of a Brooklyn tortilla factory was sentenced to three months in jail and ordered to pay almost half a million dollars in restitution this week after violating labor laws. He also refused to pay death benefits after a worker was killed in his factory in 2011.

Erasmo Ponce, of Whitestone, owns Tortilleria Chinantla on Grand Avenue in Brooklyn. According to Attorney General Eric Schneider, he drew the ire of multiple state agencies in 2011 when a 22-year-old worker was killed in his factory. 

After the incident, it was discovered that Ponce had failed to buy any worker's compensation insurance, and paid his five employees in cash to avoid state tax filings and skirting overtime laws and wages. 

“All of our labor laws – minimum wage laws, the workers’ compensation law, safety and health laws – exist to protect vulnerable workers and ensure a basic safety net of protection,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “My office will use all tools at our disposal, including criminal charges where appropriate, to seek justice for New York's workers and their families.”

Ponce pleaded guilty to labor and Workers' Compensation law violations, as well as a handful of other violations that involved witholding  proper payments to employees and the government. 

The company will still operate while Ponce is jailed, Schneiderman said.