http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs ... 01006/1006

State contractor accused of using illegal immigrant labor
By RANDALL CHASE, Associated Press
April 1, 2007 at 6:47 am

Fresh Cut's contract with the state called for security checks for employees working at Woodburn, the governor's mansion on Kings Highway in Dover, but those checks did not include immigration status.

State of Delaware
DOVER -- A landscaping company paid more than $280,000 under a state government contract before going bankrupt knowingly hired illegal immigrants, and even went to Mexico to get them, according to one of its bankruptcy adversaries.

While other states are cracking down on government contractors who employ illegal immigrants, Delaware officials say they have no way of knowing whether contractors are complying with the law.

''There's no formal mechanism in place,'' said Bert Scogletti, director of policy and external affairs for the state Office of Management and Budget, which oversees government contracts.

''We don't have any statutory authority to do immigration work,'' said state Sen. Anthony DeLuca, D-Newark, who is also director of the state Office of Labor Law Enforcement.

Under a contract awarded last year, Fresh Cut Lawn and Landscape Services cut grass at 39 government facilities in Kent and Sussex counties, including Legislative Hall, state police buildings, courts and the governor's mansion.

Fresh Cut, based in Milton, declared bankruptcy in May and is in the process of being liquidated. While creditors battle over its assets, other companies are fighting attempts by a court-appointed trustee to collect money supposedly owed to Fresh Cut.

According to the trustee, the Peninsula at Long Neck, a resort development in Sussex County, owes Fresh Cut $268,000 for landscaping services. But, among other things, Peninsula contends the trustee cannot enforce its contract with Fresh Cut because Fresh Cut used illegal workers.

''Peninsula avers that Fresh Cut representatives traveled to foreign nations and hired foreign nationals to perform the contract, that some or all of such foreign nationals were undocumented, and that Fresh Cut performed the contract in an illegal manner,'' Peninsula attorneys alleged in an October filing.

''The information that we gathered led us to believe that the principals of Fresh Cut went directly to Mexico -- they didn't go through a third party in this country -- and hired people in Mexico,'' Peninsula attorney James Sheeran said in an interview.

Sheeran said he didn't know which officials traveled outside the country in search of illegal labor.

Attempts to reach Fresh Cut's owners, brothers Christopher W. Glenn and Joseph Todd Glenn, were not successful. Messages left at Christopher Glenn's home in Lewes and on Todd Glenn's cell phone were not returned. Todd Glenn's home telephone number in Lewes is unlisted, as is Christopher Glenn's telephone number in Palm Beach, Fla.

John McLaughlin, an attorney representing Fresh Cut in the bankruptcy case, declined to comment. ''It's not appropriate to comment on pending litigation,'' he said.

William Jaworski Jr., a Dover attorney representing Christopher Glenn, said he was not at liberty to disclose where his client is.

Fresh Cut's contract with the state called for security checks for employees working at Woodburn, the governor's mansion in Dover, but those checks did not include immigration status.

''We have no mechanism in place to check their legal status within the country,'' said Capt. John Horsman of the Capitol Police.

Horsman said any contractor working at Woodburn must provide a list of workers to the Division of Facilities Management, which gives the list to Capitol Police for checks of criminal histories and active warrants. Capitol Police then make a yes or no recommendation for each worker to the administrator at Woodburn, who has the final say.

''We're looking for someone who is a threat to the safety and welfare of our governor,'' said Horsman, acknowledging that the criminal history of an undocumented worker might not show up on a criminal background check.

Colorado, Louisiana and Pennsylvania have passed laws in the past year aimed at ensuring that government contractors do not employ illegal immigrants. In Georgia, a new law requires public employers and subcontractors to participate in a federal work authorization program for all new employees beginning July 1.

Earlier this month, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt canceled a janitorial company's state contract for employing illegal immigrants. He then signed an executive order directing state agencies to review contractors to ensure they hire employees allowed to work in the United States.

Similarly, government contractors in Delaware are supposed to comply with all applicable federal statutes, as well as state and local laws.

''To the extent that they are not and we find out about it, they are disqualified from that contract,'' Scogletti said. Scogletti could not say whether any contractor has ever been disqualified for violations of the law.