September 18, 2008 - 9:08PM
Chandler officials back deal with raided firm
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Gary Grado, Tribune
Chandler's Public Works Department is recommending awarding a $75,000 contract to a landscaping company where 21 employees suspected of being illegal immigrants have been indicted on identity theft charges.

Chandler delays awarding contract to raided firm

The owner of Artistic Landscape Management told the city he can comply with the contract despite losing so many employees in an Aug. 26 raid on the Mesa company, and that he follows state law requiring employers to check the legal status of all new hires, according to R.J. Zeder, Chandler Public Works director.

Artistic Land Management has $1.4 million in contracts this fiscal year with the city.

The Chandler City Council will vote on whether to approve the new $75,000 contract at its meeting Thursday.

The council was about to rubber-stamp the contract at the Aug. 28 meeting, but postponed the matter for two weeks so city staff could look into it.

City Council members at the time said they wanted to know whether the company could fulfill its contract since so many employees were arrested, and whether it followed employment laws.

According to a search warrant affidavit, a former employee in the payroll department tipped off investigators with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

The ex-employee, Agatha Santistevan, told investigators she received letters from the Social Security Administration on several occasions inquiring about Social Security numbers that didn't match employee names.

Jose Hernandez, the owner, directed her to throw the letters away, the affidavit states.

"Jose would reply to Agatha that he did not want to see the letters because if he did not know about the letters he could not get in trouble for it," the affidavit states.

Santistevan could not be reached for comment.

Hernandez, through an employee, directed questions to his attorney Phil Austin.

Austin said there are no performance issues to serve as grounds to reject the contract.

When asked to respond to Santistevan's allegations, Austin said: "Our position is he complies with federal and state laws of employment."

Twenty-nine employees were arrested at the time of the raid, but only 21 are listed in the indictment. They were charged with forgery and identity theft, according to court records.


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