Thread: Immigration Raid Nets 19 in Nebraska

Immigration Raid Nets 19 in Nebraska

Associated Press 09.07.07, 12:05 PM ET
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/09/ ... 93740.html

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - Federal agents have arrested 19 suspected illegal immigrants at a Grand Island lawn care company.

A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said none of the arrests Thursday was for criminal charges other than being in the country illegally. The employees of Cloudburst Lawn and Sprinkler were being held for processing in the Phelps County Jail.

ICE spokesman Tim Counts said Friday that agents believed 11 of those arrested were from Mexico, six were from El Salvador and two were from Guatemala.

Counts said the arrests were part of a continuing investigation into illegal workers at the company.

"This was not random or spontaneous by any means, this is part of an ongoing investigation into illegal workers at this company," Counts said.

Those arrested can either volunteer themselves for deportation or request a hearing if they believe they have a right to be in the United States. Hearings would take place in Omaha, likely before a Chicago judge through video conferencing.

A telephone message left with Cloudburst Lawn and Sprinkler by The Associated Press on Friday was not immediately returned.

The company won a city contract in 2002 to landscape, maintain and remove snow from a street leading into downtown from the south. The contract ended in 2005, according to City Council documents.

It was not immediately clear Friday whether Cloudburst was still under contract to the city. A telephone message left with a city spokeswoman on Friday was not immediately returned.

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Lawn care company owner indicted for harboring illegal immigrants

Associated Press - September 7, 2007 5:45 PM ET

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The owner of a lawn care company in Grand Island has been indicted for harboring illegal immigrants at his landscaping and lawn care business.

An indictment unsealed Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Omaha accuses David Wortman of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and paying them in cash to work for Cloudburst Lawn and Sprinkler.

Wortman was indicted on Tuesday, two days before U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 19 suspected illegal immigrants at Cloudburst.

A spokesman for ICE said none of Thursday's arrests were for criminal charges other than being in the country illegally. The employees of were being held for processing in the Phelps County Jail.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

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GI man pleads guilty to harboring illegal aliens


(10/16/2007) KHAS-TV On October 15, 2007, David Wortman, 48, of Grand Island, Nebraska, waived indictment before Magistrate Judge David Piester in United States District Court in Lincoln, Nebraska, and pled guilty to an information charging felony offenses of harboring illegal aliens, structuring monetary transactions to avoid cash transaction reporting requirements, and agreed to restitution and forfeiture totaling $437,632. Sentencing was scheduled for January 22, 2008.

The plea culminated a joint investigation by ICE, IRS-CID, and the Department of Labor, of Mr. Wortman and Cloudburst Underground Sprinkler Systems, a Grand Island business owned and operated by Mr. Wortman. Cloudburst installs sprinkler systems and performs other lawn maintenance and snow removal services. Mr. Wortman has admitted hiring undocumented workers who were citizens of other countries unlawfully present in the United States, without obtaining from them identification or any proof of employability. He admitted hiring at least 26 such individuals between October 1, 2002, and September 6, 2007. He further admitted cashing customer checks written to Cloudburst in such a way as to avoid federal cash transaction reporting requirements which pertain to all financial transactions involving at least $10,000 in cash. On 45 separate and consecutive occasions between September 15, 2005, and May 31, 2007, he cashed groups of customer checks, ranging in number from 22 checks to 108 checks, in amounts always totaling more than $9,000 but never more than $10,000. These 45 structured financial transactions totaled $437,632.

Cloudburst was under investigation by the United States Department of Labor for failing to pay overtime to employees, as required by federal law. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Mr. Wortman agreed to pay $200,903 to the Department of Labor so that it may reimburse current and former Cloudburst employees for unpaid overtime. Any current or former Cloudburst employee who feels they are entitled to such reimbursement should contact the U.S. Department of Labor.

Other provisions of the plea agreement call for Mr. Wortman to forfeit to the United States $236,729, which represents the balance of the money involved in the structured financial transactions. Mr. Wortman has agreed he will be sentenced to a term of 30 months imprisonment and has agreed to file amended income tax returns for both himself and Cloudburst for 2005 and 2006.

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