http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/25972.html

by Jim Kouri - MADISON, WI -- Two Wisconsin men were arrested yesterday and charged for allegedly smuggling illegal aliens into the U.S. to live and work at two Super 8 Motels. The charges are the result of an investigation by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.


Erik C. Peterson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Madison returned a sealed indictment June 7 charging Siddhartha "Sam" Shah, 51, of Pleasant Prairie, Wis., and Jignesh "Mark" Jagaria, 36, of Wisconsin Dells, Wis., in a four-count indictment. The indictment was unsealed upon the arrest of the defendants on June 11. The defendants have surrendered their passports and are released pending trial.

Count one of the indictment charges Shah with conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens into the U.S., and to harbor those aliens at Super 8 Motels in Wisconsin Dells and Pleasant Prairie. It charges that from July 2005 to May 2007, Shah and unnamed others conspired to smuggle aliens into the U.S. and harbor them in the motels. It is alleged that Shah arranged and paid for aliens to be smuggled from Guatemala to Wisconsin, where he arranged for them to live and work in the motels. It is further alleged that he took steps, and caused others to take steps, to conceal the existence and location of the aliens from law enforcement officers.

Count two of the indictment charges Shah and co-defendant Jagaria with harboring an illegal alien at the Super 8 Motel in Wisconsin Dells on September 22, 2006. Count three charges Jagaria with aiding and abetting an alien in eluding immigration authorities, while count four charges Shah with witness tampering. Specifically, Shah is charged with directing a former employee to lie to ICE agents about the circumstances surrounding the posting of a bond to secure the release of a smuggled alien who was later found harbored at the Super 8 Motel in Wisconsin Dells.

Each count carries a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release, with the exception of count three, which carries a maximum sentence of six months of incarceration, a $5,000 fine, and up to one year of supervised release.