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Title: Illegal workers cost firm $5 million-Golden State Fence Co. pleads guilty. Prosecutors urge prison for two executives
Source:
Press Enterprise
URL Source: http://www.pe.com/localnews/immigra ... cal_D_immigplea15.38d72fd.html
Published: Jan 9, 2007
Author: By JOSH BROWN and SHARON McNARY
Post Date: 2007-01-09 21:22:58 by Zipporah
Keywords: None
Views: 20
IMMIGRATION: Golden State Fence Co. pleads guilty. Prosecutors urge prison for two executives. A Riverside fence-building firm and two of its executives were fined a combined $5 million after pleading guilty Thursday in federal court to knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, and prosecutors seek prison terms for the men. Golden State Fence Co. -- which several years ago built part of a 14-mile border fence near San Diego -- admitted to knowingly hiring 10 illegal workers between January 1999 and November 2005. The fine is one of the largest ever in a criminal case involving an employer that deliberately hired illegal workers, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack. It comes at a time when federal authorities are stepping up enforcement of documentation at work. The company agreed to pay $4.7 million to settle the misdemeanor charge. Mel Kay, the company's chairman and president, along with Michael McLaughlin, a manager in the firm's Oceanside office, pleaded guilty to felony charges and agreed to pay $200,000 and $100,000 respectively. Executives rarely serve prison time in these cases, Mack said. Sentencing was set for March 28. Richard Hirsch, an attorney for the company, said the government is seeking six-month sentences for the two men. "We're going to argue for lower than that," Hirsch said. The charges carry a maximum sentence of five years. Golden State's revenue peaked at about $150 million during 2004, and last year, it had sales of more than $100 million, Booth said. The company employs about 750 workers. Jason Booth, a company spokesman, said the men would continue to work at the family-owned business until at least March. "Obviously, they knew this was coming, and they've been working with the U.S. attorney to come to an agreement," Booth said. "To the company, this is sort of a closure." Kay, 64, founded the company more than 25 years ago, and McLaughlin, 42, is married to Kay's eldest daughter. "This is not about pay," Booth said. "This is a company that pays very competitive wages and always has. They made some mistakes of identifying who was legal." Previously Warned About a year ago, ICE agents arrested 16 Golden State workers, including 10 whom the company had previously been warned by federal officials to dismiss. The company had been under investigation by immigration officials since 1999. After the 2005 arrests, the company enrolled in a voluntary employment-verification program, through which the government screens new employees to verify their status. Large-scale workplace raids by ICE agents were rare as recently as one year ago, because after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the agency focused on defense and transportation companies. That changed earlier this year as Congress debated competing bills that at one extreme sought to criminalize illegal immigrants and at the other called for granting wide-ranging amnesty. The Government Accountability Office criticized ICE for failing to enforce rules against companies that hire undocumented workers. An April raid at IFCO Systems' pallet plant in Riverside and 39 other locations in 26 states placed 1,187 workers into deportation proceedings. Seven current and former managers were charged with felonies. The day after that raid -- ICE's largest ever -- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said it signaled a new willingness to go after undocumented workers who use bogus documents and their employers. Another large raid this week of meatpacker Swift & Co. resulted in the arrests of 1,282 workers, including 65 with criminal records. The government alleges that they engaged in a massive identity-theft scheme to get access to jobs. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2005 negotiated an $11 million civil settlement with ICE to resolve a case involving undocumented janitors working for Wal-Mart contractors, Mack said. No Wal-Mart executives were charged, and charges have not been brought against Swift or its executives. The Golden State Fence case began with a tip to immigration authorities in 1999 that the company was hiring undocumented workers. The company failed to follow three warnings to fire the undocumented workers. An audit in 2004 led to last year's arrests, Mack said. The American Immigration Law Foundation estimates that about 271,000 undocumented immigrants live in the six Inland congressional districts. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Illegal workers cost firm $5 million
10:00 PM PST on Thursday, December 14, 2006
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