Owners of six employment agencies in Chamblee were indicted Tuesday on charges of providing illegal immigrants to work in Chinese restaurants up and down the East Coast.

Fifteen people were named in five indictments handed down by a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

The defendants include the employment agency owners; drivers who transported the workers to restaurants in other states; operators of "safe houses" in Chamblee where immigrants waited for jobs; and immigrant smugglers who brought workers up from Florida.

All of the employment agencies operated out of 3245 Chamblee Dunwoody Road.

The companies were: Sing Rong Employment Agency; Ji Chang Sen Employment Agency; Grand China Employment Agency; Dong Sheng Employment Agency; Number One Employment Agency; and Da Zhong Employment Agency, also known as "Work with Lynn Employment Agency" in Spanish.

Each agency operated somewhat differently, but all followed the same pattern and in general recruited Mexican or Central American illegal workers.

The employment agencies would obtain the illegal immigrants by advertising in ethnic newspapers or direct referrals from immigrant smugglers or "coyotes," the indictments said. They also accepted "walk-ins." The agencies charged a commission of hundreds of dollars to place the worker, which was deducted from wages.

Some charged for the van ride from Atlanta to the restaurant out of state. In Georgia, the agencies placed workers in Dublin; and also in Tennessee, Kentucky, New York, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio, according to the indictment.

In one case, an agency owner loaded illegal workers into her black BMW sedan and gave them a ride from her agency to another spot in Chamblee. That owner also arranged to bring workers up from Florida.

Restaurant owners and warehouse owners would approach the agencies to hire illegal immigrants, "thereby cutting costs and maximizing profits," the indictments said.

The restaurant owners would work the immigrants long hours, pay cash and not withhold state or federal taxes. They gave them food and housing, but paid $3 or $5 per hour in some cases.