The owner of a central Kansas gasoline station and convenience store admitted Thursday hiring immigrants who were not authorized to work in the United States.

Satishkumar Patel, 47, pleaded guilty in Wichita federal court to routinely employing workers living illegally in the U.S. at the Route 56 Express gas station and convenience store in McPherson. He paid his workers in cash and didn’t withhold federal income and Social Security taxes. Patel also admitted he operated a money remitting business without the required state license.

His 36-year-old wife, Daxaben Patel, pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money remitting business.

Satishkumar Patel is a business partner of Nitin B. Patel, of Lawrence, who co-owns Roy’s Wines & Spirits, 721 Wakarusa Drive. Nitin Patel has been accused of scheming with Satishkumar Patel “to operate a retail liquor store even though not legally qualified to do so,” according to a federal indictment unsealed on June 24.

Nitin Patel co-owns Maruti Enterprises, LLC, with Satishkumar Patel, according to the indictment. Maruti Enterprises, which was formed in 2008, operates the Lawrence liquor store.

Nitin Patel, a United States citizen, is accused of knowingly providing false information on a liquor license renewal application through the Kansas Department of Revenue’s Alcohol Beverage Control Division. U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom alleges that Nitin Patel knew Satishkuma Patel was not a U.S. citizen but said otherwise in government documents.

Satishkumar Patel and his wife are citizens of India who are themselves living illegally in the United States, prosecutors say. Their separate plea agreements warn the convictions may have deportation and other immigration consequences, but notes those are subject to a separate proceeding and no one can predict with certainty the effect on their immigration status.

The couple agreed under the plea deals to forfeit about $706,000 in cash, bank accounts, and gold seized by the government.

“This is what happens when employers ignore U.S. employment, business and tax laws,” U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said in a news release. “They face prosecution for their crimes and the loss of assets obtained in connection with those crimes. Contrary to what some may think, it is not legal to employ people not authorized to work in this country, nor is it legal to ignore our business and tax laws.”

Under his plea agreement, the parties propose that Satishkumar Patel be sentenced to either the five months of home detention, which his defense team is seeking, or the three months of prison sought by the government. The plea deal for Daxaben Paten calls for one year of unsupervised probation. If the judge disagrees with the proposed sentences, the defendants would be allowed to withdraw their guilty pleas.

The gas station came to the attention of authorities when inspectors from the Kansas Department of Revenue observed employees selling tobacco products to minors. Investigators later determined that several employees were illegally in the country, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Sentencing is set for Nov. 25.