Convictions for employing and harboring illegal aliens upheld

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the convictions of a Florida retail store owner and his accountant (defendants) who employed illegal aliens in violation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). (United States of America v Khanani, 10thCir, 90 EPD ¶42,984)

After a 2002 ICE raid, a federal grand jury indicted the defendants on 71 counts of offenses relating to the store owner’s employment of illegal aliens and related failure to pay state and federal taxes, including the felony offense (8 USC §1324(a)) of encouragement and harboring. The government also sought the forfeiture of any assets the defendants obtained through their crimes. At trial, the store owner’s primary defense was that he “merely employedâ€