The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the resentencing of the former owner of the Udupi Cafe in Columbia Heights for employing illegal Mexican workers, saying the judge failed to adequately explain why he imposed a lighter sentence than was recommended by federal guidelines.

Nagappan Mylappan Chettiar, 45, pleaded guilty last year to knowingly hiring 10 or more illegal aliens. U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis sentenced him to one day of imprisonment (time served), plus two years of supervised release with three months of that to be served in a half-way house and nine months in home detention.

The U.S. attorney's office appealed, calling the sentence a "dramatic" and "extraordinary" departure from advisory sentencing guidelines, which are presumed to be reasonable. Prosecutors argued that no "exceptional facts" warranted such leniency, and argued for a sentence of one year and a day in prison.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court rejected the prosecution's characterization of the sentence as extraordinary, but said it lacked enough information to determine whether Davis had relied on improper or irrelevant facts when imposing the sentence.

Judge Kermit E. Bye, of Fargo, wrote the opinion and was joined by Judges Myron H. Bright, of Fargo, and William Jay Riley, of Omaha.

The appeals court noted that Davis held a hearing and conferred with probation officials before finding "multiple reasons" to depart downward from the sentencing guidelines.

Although Davis said later that Chettiar had provided a good place for the workers to live and had fed them, the appeals court judges said they found it impossible to tell from the record whether Davis had proper grounds for a lenient sentence.

"Thus, we express no opinion as to whether the sentence imposed is unreasonable and remand the matter for resentencing," Bye wrote.

John W. Lundquist, Chettiar's attorney, said in an e-mail Wednesday that "Davis imposed the sentence in a very thoughtful and careful fashion based upon the many exceptional attributes of Mr. Chettiar."

As part of his plea agreement, Chettiar agreed to pay the $4,000 cost of the prosecution and to forfeit about $250,000 in real estate and about $17,000 in cash. He also agreed to give up his permanent residency and to voluntarily leave the United States after serving his sentence.

Dan Browning • 612-673-4493

Dan Browning • dbrowning@startribune.com