KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City hotel owner will go to prison for employing undocumented workers at two Clarion hotels.

Munir Ahmad Chaudary (Mu-neer Ahmad Shod-ree) was sentenced Monday to 27 months in prison in a case that highlights a shift by the federal government in its handling of immigration-related cases. His wife was sentenced last month to 21 months in prison.

The government is also seeking forfeiture of their hotels in Overland Park, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says he hopes Kansas business owners are listening. He says violating federal law is “not a good business strategy.”

Prosecutors say that the couple replaced lawfully employed workers with immigrants not authorized to work in the United States to cut their labor costs and gain an unfair competitive advantage.