Thread: Harrington man charged with hiring illegal aliens

Harrington man charged in aliens case

By Judy Harrison
Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - Bangor Daily News

BANGOR - The husband of a Harrington woman being held on immigration charges has been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiring to hire illegal aliens.

Juan Centeno Perez, 46, of Harrington is charged with conspiring between January 2005 and June 2006 to hire at least 10 illegal aliens to work at a Washington County sea cucumber processing plant.

Perez is believed to have fled the area.

If arrested and convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

He was indicted on Sept. 19, but documents were not made public until Monday.

Doris Amanda Ayala Escalante pleaded not guilty in July to charges of visa fraud and aggravated identity theft after being indicted earlier that month by a federal grand jury.

If convicted of those charges, she faces up to 12 years in prison.

It could not be determined Monday whether Escalante also will be charged with conspiracy but her involvement in the alleged conspiracy is described in the Perez indictment.

Perez is charged with conspiring to provide illegal workers as a labor contractor to work at the sea cucumber plant in Lubec operated by ISF Trading Co., a Portland firm. Perez allegedly falsely represented the workers to be legally employable, according to the indictment.

Firms must knowingly employ illegal aliens to be charged.

Perez allegedly arranged to rent mobile homes in Columbia for the illegal workers. He also used a 2002 Chevrolet cargo truck, an enclosed, windowless delivery truck not intended for human passengers, in which as many as a dozen aliens could ride to and from work, according to the indictment.

In January 2006, the operation apparently came to the attention of investigators when a passenger van carrying 18 of the workers broke down by the side of the road. At least one worker called Perez on a cell phone, according to court documents. Perez allegedly told them to hide before immigration officials arrived, but all 18 were arrested and found to be in the country illegally.

The workers were released and ordered to appear for deportation hearings later that year, according to court documents, but continued to work at ISF Trading.

The Social Security Administration informed Perez in mid-2006, according to the indictment, that 58 of the employee names and Social Security numbers he had reported on W-2 Forms for the previous year did not agree with Social Security records.

Sole ownership of the Mexican Restaurant in Hancock was transferred to Escalante in late 2006 or early 2007 allegedly to avoid problems that were developing for Perez who had not paid employee taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.

Escalante and Perez opened the Mexican Store on U.S. Route 1 in Harrington seven years ago to serve the needs of the growing Hispanic community in Washington County. It closed earlier this year. The couple opened the restaurant in Hancock and it closed temporarily in July shortly after Escalante’s arrest.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Perez is asked to call 800-232-5378.

http://bangordailynews.com/news/t/news. ... zoneid=500

Yes! I hope the court makes an example of this employer and throws the book at him.
We need a hard line extreme example for the rest of the employers out there.

Actually if you know any company that is hiring illegal aliens, and they have a web site with a “contact usâ€

Woman enters pleas in visa fraud case
October 11, 2007

BANGOR, Maine --A Harrington woman has pleaded guilty to conspiring with her husband to bring in illegal aliens in 2005 and 2006 to work in a sea-products plant and restaurant.

Doris Amanda Ayala Escalante, 38, who is well-known in eastern Maine's Hispanic community, also pleaded guilty to visa fraud Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

Escalante admitted hiring at least 10 illegal aliens to work at a Washington County sea cucumber processing plant and at a restaurant she operated with relatives.

She could face up to 10 years in federal prison on the visa fraud charge and five years for conspiracy, but the terms could be reduced by a plea bargain.

Escalante's husband, Juan Centeno Perez was indicted last month on a charge of conspiring to hire illegal aliens. Federal officials believe he's left the state.

www.boston.com

3/4/10 | 9 comments
Man gets jail in illegal aliens case

Former Harrington resident also entered US illegally in late 1980s
By Judy Harrison
BDN Staff

BANGOR, Maine — A former Harrington resident once lauded for helping Spanish-speaking workers in coastal Maine was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to two years and nine months in federal prison.

Juan Centeno Perez, 48, pleaded guilty in November to charges of visa fraud, harboring and transporting illegal aliens and conspiracy to hire illegal aliens to work at a sea cucumber processing plant in Lubec and at his wife’s restaurant on U.S. Route 1 in Hancock.

He faced up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the most serious charges of visa fraud and harboring illegal aliens. Under the prevailing sentencing guidelines, Centeno Perez faced between 2½ years and three years and one month in prison.

His wife, Doris Amanda Ayala Escalante, 40, of Hancock was sentenced in March 2008 to one year and two months in federal prison on similar charges. She has been released.

Centeno Perez is expected to be deported to his native Mexico after completing his prison term and barred from re-entering the U.S.

Centeno Perez’s daughters, ages 15 and 16, sat behind him throughout Wednesday’s proceeding but did not address the court. The girls were born in the U.S. and are citizens.

“I apologize to immigration and to the authorities of the nation and to your honor and to my daughters,â€