San Diego

Twin brothers who operated a tour agency that went broke and left 185 junior high school students stranded on the East Coast pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

Anthony and Leo Casias, 40, of San Diego, were the owners of East/West Travel & Tours, which booked thousands of students on group tours on the East Coast in 1988.

In May, 1988, 185 students from Emerald Junior High School found themselves stranded with no hotel reservations or plane fare home after the agency went bankrupt.

Attorney Michael McCabe, representing both brothers, told U.S. District Judge John Rhoades that his clients misled schools about their group tours.

“They distributed a brochure with misleading representations,” said McCabe, adding that it was sent through the U.S. mail.

“East/West could only do business as a tour operator,” said McCabe, adding that the false statements included a claim that they were insured and were a travel agency.

The defendants could face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

Rhoades set sentencing for May 14. Both men are free on a $75,000 bail bond.

The brothers have told reporters that they still hope to repay the students and their parents for the losses.

The pleas mark the third conviction for the Casiases in the last six years.

In 1984, they pleaded guilty to bank larceny and were placed on five years’ probation.

Last year, they pleaded no contest to assisting in the illegal sale of Pennsylvania lottery tickets with the owner of a Spring Valley store. They were again placed on probation and fined $1,000.

The Emerald Junior High School students found themselves in Washington without proper reservations or a way home.

American Airlines donated fares for each student, and the Cajon Valley School District allotted emergency money for them.