Thread: Verizon subcontractors charged hiring IAs UPDATE 2

Verizon subcontractors charged with hiring illegal immigrants
By TIM MCGLONE, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 31, 2007 | Last updated 5:30 PM Oct. 31



NORFOLK

Federal authorities today arrested a Verizon Communications' father-and-son subcontractor on charges of employing and housing undocumented immigrants.

The case stems from a May traffic stop on Interstate 264 in which state troopers discovered a van full of illegal immigrants working on a Verizon subcontract digging ditches for fiber optic lines.

U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement agents spent the past five months building a case against B&B Cable and its owners, the Buttery family of Midland in Fauquier County.

Robert R. Buttery Sr. and his son, Robert R. Buttery Jr., were brought into U.S. District Court in Norfolk for their first appearance today. Authorities were searching for a third defendant, Betty Jean Buttery.

A federal magistrate ordered the two men jailed pending a bond hearing Friday afternoon. Each is charged with employing, transporting and harboring undocumented immigrants and money laundering.

Court records unsealed today show that many of the 14 undocumented B&B workers arrested during the May traffic stop have been cooperating with immigration authorities. They are currently being processed for deportation.

One worker told agents that he was paid by B&B $100 per day for a 12-hour shift minus $60 a week for housing and utilities, according to the records. That works out to about $9 an hour for a five-day work week. Some said they were put up in a house off Oceana Boulevard in Virginia Beach.

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B&B was hired by the Greensboro, N.C.-based, Ivy H. Smith company, which held the Verizon contract.

Officials with both Smith and Verizon said in May that they knew nothing of B&B’s hiring of illegal immigrants and said they would be investigating.

The court records say that Smith and Verizon employees were frequently on the work sites when the undocumented immigrants were on the job. Some of the workers told authorities that B&B, Ivy Smith and Verizon never asked them for green cards, identifications, social security numbers or any proof that they were legally in the country. Only one of the 14 spoke English.

An Ivy Smith official did not respond to inquiries from The Virginian-Pilot this afternoon.

A spokesman for Verizon said policy changes were made in an attempt to ensure that illegal immigrants are not employed by contractors or subcontractors. Independent audits are done of employee records of any firm hired by Verizon or its contractors, said the spokesman, Harry Mitchell.

“We have zero tolerance for this,â€

[quote]“Now look, the two of you listen to me carefully,â€

This is important because apparently, this company was working outside my apartment building in Fairfax, VA, in the January timeframe. I was highly suspicious and took photographs of the workers and also license plate numbers. I even called Fairfax ICE and asked them what they needed. I sent a letter and a CD-ROM with the photographs to FAIRFAX ICE investigations.

About two days later, an African-American male approached me as I was walking to the bus station in Washington, D.C. and he said (approximately), "Excuse me sir, I've never asked a white person this before, but do you know how I could find a job?" He told me that his mother had a stable job, and that is why he was in decent clothes and did not smell, but that he was basically homeless. He said that occasionally he could get jobs working for $40 per day at McDonalds and other places. I had a nice conversation with him and I actually wish I had gotten his phone number, but of course, he probably didn't have a phone number.

Here's the thing. One of our own compatriots is making $40 per day in D.C. when he can find work, and not 9 miles away in Fairfax, VA (right near the metro station!) people here illegally are making $100 per day and being transported and housed!

Below is the text of the letter I sent to ICE:



Department of Homeland Security
2675 Prosperity Avenue, Suite 400
Fairfax, VA 22031

Attention: Investigations


A company named “Ivy H. Smithâ€

notyou welcome to Alipac

You rock, well done

My letter and the pictures on CD-ROM could be used as evidence in this case.
Does anybody know how I can make sure the prosecutors have the materials?

And let me say this: I approached the foremen of that work site, and I was going to SCREAM at them because it was so obvious they were knowingly hiring illegal workers. I was FURIOUS. But I kept my cool and took pictures and I approached them in a friendly manner and got what information I could.

Originally Posted by notyou

My letter and the pictures on CD-ROM could be used as evidence in this case.
Does anybody know how I can make sure the prosecutors have the materials?

And let me say this: I approached the foremen of that work site, and I was going to SCREAM at them because it was so obvious they were knowingly hiring illegal workers. I was FURIOUS. But I kept my cool and took pictures and I approached them in a friendly manner and got what information I could.

Welcoome to ALIPAC notyou! Excellent letter and proof of your allegations. As for being sure that they received the materials, if you haven't called them to verify, I would call, make sure you get the name of the person you speak with. If the work is ongoing after you make the first call, I would call again to find out what if any action will be taken. Chances are you are dead right in your assumption that the crew is illegal.

Now when I see the Verizon TV comercials with the large group in white hard hats following the customer around I no why they need such a large group.......the "Techs" just might be illegal aliens with little or no training.

Verizon is one of La Raza's corporate supporters. When I found this out I called Verizon and asked when my account was up because I wanted to cancel. I told them that I wouldn't do business with anyone that supported La Raza. Ever since Verizon keeps sending me all kinds of deals trying to keep my business.

I just wanted to also congratulate notyou on a job well done! Talk about starting out on ALIPAC with a bang!

Verizon subcontractor gets prison in illegal worker case
By Peter Dujardin
dailypress.com


5:19 PM EST, March 7, 2008

A subcontractor for Verizon Communications and Dominion Virginia Power was sentenced to 14 months in prison Friday for conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal immigrants for installing cable and underground utilities in the Virginia Beach area.

Robert Ray Buttery, 52, of Midland, who owns B & B Cable, hired illegal immigrants between 2003 and 2007, the U.S. Attorney's Norfolk office said.

Buttery's wife, Betty Jean Buttery, 55, and their son, Robert Raymond Buttery, Jr., 22, also pleaded guilty to the conspiracy, and await sentencing.

From March 2005 through late 2007, Betty Buttery wrote 694 checks to illegal immigrants totaling $284,259, while Robert Buttery Sr. wrote 455 checks totaling $169,390, according to court documents.

The Butterys arranged for employees to have their checks cashed at small stores and gas stations where the owners would accept B&B Cable checks without asking for identification from the employees. The Butterys also admitted to concealing the conspiracy by not filling out required employment and tax documentation.

The Butterys drove employees from Northern Virginia to Virginia Beach, "housing them in various local hotels and motels," court documents say. But the workers grew weary of the travel, and were replaced by illegal workers in Hampton Roads.

In May 2007, a van carrying 14 illegal immigrants working for B&B was at one point stopped by the state police because of an expired inspection sticker. The employees were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Though the Butterys pleaded guilty in December to the conspiracy to transport workers, several charges were dropped as part of a plea deal with the government. The dropped charged included transporting illegal immigrants, harboring illegal immigrants, encouraging an illegal immigrant to enter the United States, and unlawfully employing illegal immigrants.

Copyright © 2008, Newport News, Va., Daily Press

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local ... 2787.story