http://cbs4.com/floridawire/22.0.html?t ... rrests.xml

Cleaning service owners plead guilty in illegal immigrants case

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) The co-owners of a Florida-based janitorial service that authorities say provided cleaning crews staffed with illegal immigrants to a northern Michigan resort have pleaded guilty to charges in the case.

The investigation into Palm Beach, Fla.-based Rosenbaum-Cunningham International Inc., or RCI, led to the nationwide arrest in February of more than 200 illegal immigrants, mostly Mexican nationals.

Richard M. Rosenbaum, 61, and Edward S. Cunningham, 44, have pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to defraud the federal government and harboring illegal aliens in plea agreements with federal prosecutors.

Cunningham, of West Palm Beach, Fla., entered his plea Friday and Rosenbaum, of Longwood, Fla., entered his plea on Oct. 17. Rosenbaum's sentencing was scheduled for Feb. 4 in federal court.

Records didn't indicate a sentencing date for Cunningham.

RCI controller Christina A. Flocken, of Longwood, Fla., also was charged in the case. She has a plea hearing scheduled for Monday.

The investigation began at Grand Traverse Resort in Acme in Michigan's northwestern Lower Peninsula.

The practice of paying cash wages to workers deprived the U.S. government of about $18.6 million in employment taxes, according to the indictment against the three. The government said RCI contracted with the resort between June 1997 and March 2006.

Rosenbaum faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Cunningham faces a 5-year prison term and up to $250,000 in fines. Both face restitution amounts that the government says could exceed $16 million.

[Mod Note: Changed thread title - From:
"Cleaning Service Guilty if Hiring Illegals" to:
"Cleaning Service Guilty Of Hiring Illegals"]