http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... 00351/1014

Tuesday, June 20, 2006
15 more workers plead guilty

Post staff report


Fifteen more Hispanic men pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Covington to entering the United States illegally in connection with a raid last month on Fischer Homes construction sites in Northern Kentucky.

A total of 78 men who were doing construction work have now pleaded guilty to being in the U.S. illegally in the wake of the raid.

Pre-trial hearings were conducted Monday for seven more men charged with illegal entry into the country and they are expected to enter pleas July 13.

Nearly 100 men were charged in the investigation, which is continuing.

All 15 men who pleaded guilty Monday were sentenced by U.S. Judge Magistrate J. Gregory Wehrman to the time they've already served in jail since being arrested - about six weeks - and fined $10 each.

Each could have been sent to prison for six months.

Five of the 15 were turned over to federal immigration officials for immediate deportation.

Deportation for the others will be delayed because prosecutors intend to use them as material witnesses in a case against a Fischer contractor.

Robert Pratt is charged with knowingly hiring the undocumented workers.

Four Fischer supervisors have been indicted and prosecutors allege they spoke with Pratt about projects involving the Hispanic workers.

Pratt and the four supervisors have pleaded not guilty.

The May 9 raid on Fischer Homes construction sites that resulted in 81 arrests was part of a two-year probe into the use of illegal immigrant workers in the home construction industry in Northern Kentucky.

About a dozen more people have been arrested since the initial raid.

Most of those arrested were from Mexico.

Others were from Guatemala and El Salvador.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency spearheaded the investigation and said it shows that the agency "has no tolerance for corporate supervisors who harbor illegal aliens for their workforce."

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called the Northern Kentucky probe "another tough step in our targeted and aggressive enforcement of our immigration laws."