Fresh herb grower admits to using illegal aliens in ‘brazen,’ ‘secret' work shifts
Fresh herb grower admits to using illegal aliens in ‘brazen,’ ‘secret' work shifts
Fri, 2012-05-04 09:21 AM
By: Mark Rockwell
A Washington state-based supplier of fresh organic herbs has to pay a $1 million fine for hiring illegal aliens and hiding their employment with late-night work shifts.
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Herbco basil field
The case against HerbCo International was spurred by a tip to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), said the agency.
In a plea agreement on May, HerbCo International, Inc., and three top executives admitted they knowingly hired illegal aliens at their Duvall, WA packing facility and creating a “secret shift” of undocumented aliens to work there. The company, according to the plea agreement, had told ICE that it had fired all of its undocumented workers, but had rehired them to work at night. The company supplies fresh herbs to almost 3,000 grocers, according to ICE.
The corporation pleaded guilty to felony offences and was sentenced to a fine of $1 million and five years' probation for harboring, concealing, shielding an illegal alien, and encouraging and inducing an illegal alien to reside, said ICE. Company executives, Edward Williamson "Ted" Andrews, III 58,; David William Lykins Jr., vice president, 55,; and Debra Rae Howard, general manager, 56, each pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense and were sentenced to a year probation for aiding and abetting a pattern or practice of employing illegal aliens.
Court documents said HerbCo rehired illegal aliens for a secret night shift and paid them in cash to conceal their crime from law enforcement, after company executives told immigration agency investigators that they had laid off all their illegal workers following an HSI audit of the company's I-9 employment eligibility verification forms.
"In the midst of an I-9 administrative audit, HerbCo hired and concealed unauthorized workers," said Brad Bench, acting special agent in charge for HSI Seattle. "It was a brazen move that compelled us to initiate a criminal investigation. HSI is working to reduce the demand for illegal workers by targeting those who hire them. Businesses that engage in this unlawful practice should take note of the significant penalties and take proactive steps to comply with the law."
HSI said it conducted a review of the company's I-9 employment eligibility verification forms in early 2011 and found “significant discrepancies.” Of the more than 300 forms reviewed, more than 200 were suspect, it said. In April 2011, the agency notified HerbCo of the problem and ICE said, the company said it laid off 86 employees that couldn’t provide proper employment eligibility documentation within days of the notice.
HerbCo's official, said ICE, told investigators their replacement labor didn't have the packing skills needed to keep pace with orders. To keep up with orders, HerbCo devised a plan to rehire about 25 of their most efficient workers who had been fired, it said. They called them the "A-Team," which, according to ICE, worked select nights from late April to early June 2011 during a secret night shift.
They paid the workers in cash and ensured the "A-Team" worked after hours to avoid contact with the legal replacement workforce and avoid detection by HSI investigators, said the agency. Company executives made about $40,000 in cash withdrawals from company accounts to compensate the illegal workers, it said.
"These company executives knew they were breaking the law. The secret night shift and the envelopes stuffed with cash are signs of illegal conduct that cannot be ignored," said U.S. attorney Jenny Durkan. "Employers need to know there is a heavy price to pay – in this case a million dollars – for knowingly hiring those who are not authorized to work in the United States."
source: Fresh herb grower admits to using illegal aliens in
