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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    2 firms fined for hiring illegals at D/FW

    http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/14532199.htm

    Posted on Mon, May. 08, 2006


    2 firms fined for hiring illegals at D/FW

    By BRYON OKADA
    Star-Telegram Staff Writer

    FORT WORTH - Two companies that did janitorial work for American Airlines were fined in federal court Monday morning for immigration violations stemming from 2002’s Operation Tarmac raid at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.

    U.S. District Judge Terry Means fined Midwest Airport Services $150,000 and Service Performance Corp. $600,000.

    Midwest President Karen Sue Rowell, 47, who pleaded guilty last year to immigration violations, was sentenced to nine months in federal prison. Rowell must also pay a $5,000 fine and will be on supervised release for one year after prison.

    Edward John Pitre, 49, a Midwest underling, got a stiffer sentence because he did not cooperate with the government’s investigation.

    In the summer, a jury found him guilty of helping harbor aliens. Pitre was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and two years on supervised release and was fined $1,000.

    “I know what I did was wrong,” Rowell said, apologizing to the court, family, friends and co-workers. A large crowd was in court to support her.

    Midwest and SPC still work for American Airlines.

    Operation Tarmac came at the height of the post-9-11 national panic over airport security, and Midwest and SPC flouted federal immigration rules in hiring and in falsifying citizenship records to allow their workers access to D/FW Airport’s vulnerable areas. No terrorism resulted.

    Still, “it created a pipeline of fraud that terrorists could use,” Assistant U.S. District Attorney David Jarvis said.

    In November 2002, 62 D/FW workers from various companies were arrested in Operation Tarmac. Midwest and SPC, owned by the same company, were among the businesses affected.

    According to court documents, Rowell and Pitre attended meetings at Midwest between 9-11 and Nov. 20, 2002, to discuss how Rowell would provide “early warnings” to illegal immigrant employees in the event of a government raid. Pitre assisted Rowell by translating her words into Spanish.

    Previously, Midwest office manager Silvia Castillowas was sentenced to eight months in prison and three years of supervised release and was fined $2,000. Other defendants in the case got probation of various lengths, and one case was dropped.

    Lawyers paid special attention to the wording and tone of language used in Monday’s hearing. Both defense attorneys were conscious of not having their clients go to jail under the stigma of helping terrorists.

    Means and the lawyers were also cognizant of the ongoing debate over immigration law on Capitol Hill.

    Midwest was an example of “how a small businessperson is impacted by laws that seem to send mixed signals,” said attorney Richard Anderson, who represents Midwest and SPC.

    Rowell and Pitre are to report to jail by 2 p.m. June 12.




    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Bryon Okada, (817) 390-7752
    okada@star-telegram.com
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  2. #2
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... SCI00.html

    Two companies, executives sentenced for illegal workers

    05/08/2006

    Associated Press


    Two executives of a company that hired illegal immigrants to do janitorial work at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport were sentenced Monday to federal prison.

    Karen Sue Rowell, 48, president of Midwest Airport Services Inc., was sentenced to nine months and fined $5,000. Edward John Pitre, 49, the company's former operations manager, was sentenced to 15 months and fined $1,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

    Midwest and Service Performance Corp., which also provides janitorial services for DFW Airport, pleaded guilty in March to immigration violations. On Monday, Midwest was ordered to pay a $150,000 fine, and SPC was ordered to pay $600,000.

    Midwest admitted hiring at least 50 illegal immigrants for airport jobs, and SPC admitted hiring at least 200 illegal immigrants to work there from 1999 through 2002. During part of that time, Midwest and SPC had common ownership.

    As part of their cooperation with the government, the companies started a compliance program to make sure that only legally documented workers are hired.

    Last summer Pitre was convicted of one count of conspiracy to unlawfully harbor and shield illegal aliens from detection. A week earlier Rowell, who faced 63 counts, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting in false representation of U.S. citizenship.

    Another Midwest executive, office manager Silvia Castillo, pleaded guilty last summer to aiding and abetting an employee who made a false statement. Castillo, who faced 33 counts, was fined $2,000 and is currently serving her eight-month sentence.

    The case stems from a task force's surprise airport security sweep in 2002. Nearly 65 illegal immigrants from several companies were arrested, and several executives later were indicted.

    Other Midwest and SPC managers have pleaded guilty to various federal charges, and some are to be sentenced in July.
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

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