Manufacturer Gets Jail Time and More Than A Million In Fines For Immigration Violations
The president of a Massachusetts military goods manufacturing company will pay a fine and serve up to 18 months in prison to settle charges stemming from a raid by federal immigration officials in March of 2007. The company will also have to pay a fine of $1.5 million. Under the terms of a plea agreement entered Nov. 3. MBI and its president and principal shareholder, pleaded guilty to several charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts alleging that they hired illegal aliens, helped to shield them from detection, failed to pay them full overtime, and fraudulently misled the government. The company specialized in the manufacture of handbags and leather goods. Between 2001 and 2006, MBI won a number of Department of Defense contracts worth approximately $230 million. As a result of these defense contracts, the federal government said, MBI increased its workforce from approximately 85 employees in 2001 to approximately 650 people in 2006.
The company president and two managers were arrested and charged with various violations of federal criminal law and the Immigration and Nationality Act in a criminal information March 6, the day officials from ICE raided the worksite and detained at least 361 alleged illegal aliens. The three were subsequently indicted in August 2007 by a grand jury on charges of conspiracy to harbor and conspiracy to hire illegal aliens. In a plea agreement entered on Nov. 3, MBI pleaded guilty to 18 counts of knowingly hiring illegal aliens, helping to harbor and shield illegal aliens from detection from authorities from 2004 
to 2007; fraudulently misrepresenting Social Security numbers and committing mail fraud when it submitted Social Security numbers to the IRS and Social Security Administration knowing that many of the numbers had to be false given that many of the company's employees were illegal aliens; and failing to pay many employees overtime from 2005 to 2007. MBI's president pleaded guilty to helping harbor and conceal illegal aliens by allowing the company to submit false Social Security numbers for employees to the government as if they were real.
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On August 28, 2008, The Des Moines Register published a story by Tony Leys entitled "Critics tie scant new charges to wariness after Postville raid." Florida employers would be well served if they read it. I reproduce the story in full here below: 
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On Monday, August 25, 2008, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents (“ICE”) raided Howard Industries Inc. of Laurel, Mississippi, an electrical equipment company that produces electrical transformers, medical supplies, and others, apprehending 595 suspected undocumented workers. Howard Industries, founded in the 1960s, received in 2002 a $31.5 million, taxpayer-backed incentive plan aimed at helping to expand its operations. On Monday, Barbara Gonzalez, ICE’s spokeswoman for this raid, stated this raid was "...a targeted enforcement operation that is part of an ongoing ICE investigation that has revealed that illegal aliens are employed at Howard Industries." Barbara Gonzalez also added that ICE had acted on a tip provided by a union worker. The U.S. Department of Justice and ICE issued a joint press release annoucing that “…special agents executed a federal criminal search warrant yesterday at Howard Industries, Inc., an electric transformer manufacturing facility, for evidence relating to aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes, as well as a civil search warrant for individuals illegally in the United States…as a result of yesterday’s enforcement action, approximately 595 illegal aliens were arrested by ICE special agents. Of those, approximately 106 were identified as being eligible for an alternative to detention based on humanitarian reasons. These individuals will still be required to appear before a federal immigration judge who will ultimately determine whether or not they will be deported. Eight criminal cases have been accepted for prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi. The criminal cases are focused on charges of aggravated identity theft. The other cases are being handled via administrative law procedures at the Department of Homeland Security. “Yesterday’s enforcement action is part of ICE’s ongoing nationwide effort to shut down the employment magnet fueling illegal immigration,” said Holt. “We are committed to strengthening the integrity of our nation’s immigration system. Harris noted that the eight cases being criminally prosecuted are for separate identity theft charges. “Identity theft is a growing problem in the United States, and the Department of Justice has prioritized bringing perpetrators of these crimes to justice and protecting the interests of innocent victims. All of those arrested were interviewed, fingerprinted and photographed by ICE agents and processed for removal from the United States. Approximately 475 were transported to an ICE facility in Jena, Louisiana where they will await the outcome of their case. The eight individuals facing criminal charges are in the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Service.” On August 27, 2008 the Hattiesburg American reported that "when federal agents raided the Howard Industries plant early Monday, they sealed off the exits and made it impossible for any of the workers to escape, some of the detainees released said Tuesday. ...when the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents scrambled into the plant, they ordered workers to form two lines - one for Hispanics and one for non-Hispanics."According to AP this "the largest single-workplace immigration raid in U.S. history has caused panic among Hispanic families in this small southern Mississippi town, where federal agents rounded up nearly 600 plant workers suspected of being in the country illegally." 
On June 5, 2008, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) agents executed a federal search warrant as part of an ongoing investigation targeting an Imperial Valley-area farm labor contractor, arresting two of the company’s foremen on criminal charges and another 32 employees on administrative immigration violations. The warrant was executed at the business office of the locally-owned Boss 4 Packing company, a packing business in Heber, California that provides contract workers to the farming industry in the Imperial Valley. The two arrested company foremen were charged with federal criminal charges for misusing Social Security numbers to employ illegal alien workers. The 32 illegal aliens employed by Boss 4 Packing include a group of seven women and 25 men from Mexico and Honduras. So far, 18 have been repatriated to Mexico and 12 are being held as material witnesses in the ongoing Investigation. One underage worker has been turned over to relatives. The search warrant remains under seal and the investigation is ongoing. .jpg)
According to the indictment, the federal authorities charged the three janitorial company executives of embezzling more than $18.6 million by failing to collect and pay federal income, Social Security, Medicare and federal employment taxes on the wages paid to its workforce, hundreds of illegal immigrants from Mexico, Central America, and Haiti. RCI allegedly hired illegal immigrants, paid them in cash and never required them to provide identification or fill out job applications or tax forms. .jpg)
Related to the notion of constructive knowledge, there appears to be a trend towards seeking employer liability even where its contractors or sub-contractors hire illegal workers. Current regulations state that an employer who knowingly or with reckless disregard contracts to obtain the labor of an unauthorized alien will be considered to have hired the employee. Incredibly, in terms of raids already conducted by ICE, in spite of the many industries targeted by ICE existing in our state (i.e. construction, agriculture, hospitality, retail, etc.) Florida has not been an “active” place. We do not hear much about ICE in Florida. But, just as RCI, simply put, employers should not make the mistake of assuming that ICE will not come and raid them. Employers should be prepared for when it comes. Our state has too many industries which are the focus of ICE’s interest. Given the focus on employer liability for hiring illegal workers, there are various ways employers can proactively protect themselves against not only government investigations and ensure compliance with potential new laws and regulations, but also from service providers who may be hiring undocumented workers. Employers cannot afford neglecting these important tasks. 