Thread: AL: Feds close firm accused of illegal workers on Alabama

Feds close firm accused of illegal workers on Alabama coast
2/8/2008, 2:42 p.m. CST
The Associated Press

GULF SHORES, Ala. (AP) — Federal immigration officials have shut down a Gulf Shores-based labor firm that authorities contend had supplied some 300 illegal workers for area employers.

Some of the workers lived in a Gulf Shores trailer park owned by Gerald Jones, identified in court records as the owner of the firm, Skyline Services. Jones was not charged.

But an employee, Roberto Pereida-Dias, 25, of Brazil, pleaded not guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Mobile to allegations that he made fake identifications in connection with that scheme.

His lawyer, Bill Scully, said his client was an interpreter who had worked for the company for seven or eight months.

Scully questioned whether the allegations constitute a violation of U.S. law since the documents his client is accused of faking are Mexican driver's licenses.

Skyline operated out of two convenience stores in Baldwin County.

Immigration agents seized two vans owned by Skyline Services and plan to deport 17 other illegal workers, who were apprehended last week.

Jones, who had been in business since 1999, told the Press-Register in Mobile that he never knowingly hired an illegal immigrant.

"Of course, an immigration officer I am not. They all had Social Security numbers and stuff of that nature," he said.

Dwight McDaniel, the assistant special agent in charge for federal Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration & Customs Enforcement in Alabama, said the investigation continues.

The grand jury brought charges of illegally re-entering the United States after previously having been deported against three men, including Jones' brother-in-law, Joel Pinho. According to court records, Pinho managed Jones' trailer park.

Pinho, 61, pleaded not guilty Thursday. Attorneys for the other two men, Juan Gomez-Diego, 23, and Juan Gomez-Gaspar, 21, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Bert Milling Jr. that their clients intend to plead guilty.

http://www.al.com/newsflash/regional/in ... labamanews

Sadly it may be another story like Robert Camp in Houston resulting in the death of a Houston Police officier. The ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS always claim they are confused about Imigration Laws. Heavy fines and felony jail time should clear some of the confusion.