Thread: FL:Family accused of enslaving workers at Immokalee camp

By ELYSA BATISTA

Friday, December 7, 2007

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/dec ... alee_camp/

Members of an Immokalee family were in federal court Friday to deny charges that they harbored and helped 15 illegal aliens stay in Immokalee on their property, including some who were kept in a box truck.

During the investigation, at least one of the illegal aliens told authorities the suspects charged the men fees for what they needed, such as $5 to take a shower with a garden hose.

Cesar Navarrete, Geovanni Navarrete, Jose Navarrete and their mother, Virginia Navarrete, were arrested on Nov. 29 after a nine-day investigation, authorities said Friday.

Members of the Navarrette family, whose ages weren’t immediately available, were indicted Dec. 3. Each is charged with one count of conspiring to aid and abet illegal aliens willfully for financial gain, and a count of knowingly harboring illegal aliens for financial gain.

All four — who themselves are illegal immigrants — went before U.S. Magistrate Sheri Polster Chappell on Friday to be arraigned in Fort Myers.

If found guilty, each family member could potentially face a maximum of 10 years in jail per count, in addition to a $250,000 fine per charge.

“In cases like this we move very fast,â€

capitalism at it's best

Immokalee family pleads guilty to harboring illegal aliens
By ELYSA BATISTA

Originally published 12:29 p.m., September 2, 2008
Updated 08:57 p.m., September 2, 2008

FORT MYERS — As some of their extended family looked on, five members of an Immokalee family charged with harboring and helping 15 illegal aliens stay on their Immokalee property in December pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court.

In July, a federal grand jury handed up a 16-count indictment against Cesar Navarrete, Geovanni Navarrete, Ismael Michael Navarrete, their mother Villhina “Virginiâ€