CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : HOLTVILLE : Farmer Facing Huge Fines to Lay Off 2,215

A multimillionaire farmer who pleaded guilty to evading more than $10 million in federal income taxes has told Imperial County officials he plans to lay off 2,215 employees. Mario Saikhon, in a letter to the county Board of Supervisors, said he will permanently discontinue all local farming operations effective Oct. 2. “All employees will be affected by this closing, including those currently on seasonal layoff,” Saikhon said in the letter. Saikhon has agreed to pay the federal government up to $23 million in fines, back taxes, interest and penalties in what federal officials said was the largest U.S. tax settlement of its kind. He owns more than 3,000 acres of land in Imperial County and has extensive agricultural operations in the city of Holtville. The closure means the end of Saikhon’s self-made Imperial County farming empire. It was not immediately known what would happen to his agricultural operations in other areas of California, Arizona and Mexico.