PITTSBURGH — Eight men recruited immigrants who were in the country illegally to work for low wages at six Asian restaurants the suspects owned or managed in central Pennsylvania, federal prosecutors said.

The suspected ringleader — 51-year-old Jing Mei “Jimmy” Jiang of Boalsburg — and the others have agreed to plead guilty, according to documents filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg.

The indictment alleges Jiang and the others conspired to bus in workers from employment agencies in New York City’s Chinatown and paid them less than the $7.25 per hour minimum wage. The workers were immigrants in the country illegally from China, Thailand, Guatemala and Mexico, the indictment said.

“Unauthorized alien workers were hired routinely to staff restaurant kitchen operations, thereby cutting costs and maximizing profits,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

The New York attorney representing the defendants didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment Friday.

The restaurants are located in State College, about 120 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Eight Asian restaurants were raided in June 2014 as part of what’s called an ongoing investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Pennsylvania attorney general.