Muskegon man pleads guilty to disability fraud, tripped up by story about his popular eatery

MUSKEGON, Mich. – A man who ran a popular restaurant in western Michigan while telling the government he couldn't work because of a bad back has pleaded guilty to disability fraud.

Pablo Fierro was in federal court Monday.

Social Security investigators became suspicious after Fierro was featured in a Muskegon Chronicle story in 2008 about his restaurant, Pablo's Tacos. He was quoted as saying he worked long hours nearly seven days a week.

At that time, he had been receiving disability benefits for 12 years.

The 66-year-old Fierro fled to Mexico in 2012 but eventually returned to Michigan. He was arrested in June in Twin Lake.