Thread: 2nd man sentenced in illegal workers operation

2nd man sentenced in illegal workers operation


Friday, February 18, 2011
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


A Cleveland-area man today became the second of six defendants sentenced in a multi-million-dollar conspiracy to lease illegal immigrants to hotels as cleaning contractors.

Roman Kucher, 41, was sentenced to 33 months in prison, though that may be revisited if he cooperates with prosecutors against other defendants. Already sentenced is his father, Gregory Kucher, who is serving 51 months.

Roman Kucher was recruited by his father into a network of businesses including Midwest Best Inc., of Bedford Heights, Ohio. The firms transported and housed illegal aliens, and passed them off to hotel companies as legal workers, investigators have charged. The businesses received around $6.9 million, paying the cleaning personnel nearly $5 million, and evading federal income taxes, according to the 2008 indictment.

Mr. Kucher's attorney, John A. Bacharach, told U.S. District Judge Terrence F. McVerry that his client was just a salaried employee for Midwest Best, earning a modest $90,000, total, over two years with the firm.

Mr. Kucher said he thought he "would bear no responsibility for what was giong on there" because of his junior status. "I was very wrong. . . . In fact, ignorance is not bliss. It is only ignorance."

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and money laundering. Judge McVerry said he must report to prison by April 19. He must also consent to the federal seizure of $15,000 from his bank accounts.

The investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret E. Picking is prosecuting the cases.

Also charged are Roman and Alexander Litt, Yaroslav Rochniak and Yakov Shakhanov. Gregory Kucher and Mr. Rochniak are former Pittsburghers.


http://oneoldvet.com/

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11049/1126376-100.stm

Ex-teacher supplied illegals, judge finds
By Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Saturday, March 26, 2011


A former Ukrainian teacher claimed his ex-students led him astray, but a federal judge in Pittsburgh said Friday that Yakov Shakhanov, 73, of Delray Beach, Fla., knew he was committing crimes when he participated in a scheme to supply illegal aliens to work in Pittsburgh-area hotels and restaurants.

U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry sentenced Shakhanov to two years and nine months in prison and three years of probation. Shakhanov pleaded guilty in November to conspiring to supply out-of-status aliens as employees for local hotels and restaurants and conspiring to launder the money obtained from the scheme.

Shakhanov ran the Cleveland and Pittsburgh franchises of Cincinnati-based ARRA Corp. from 1999-2001 and assumed control again briefly in 2005, prosecutors say. The companies recruited foreign nationals who had overstayed their visas or were in the United States and could not work.

The company took advantage of the workers' inability to complain by charging them housing and transportation fees, not paying extra for overtime and requiring them to pay a kickback for every hour worked, prosecutors say.

http://oneoldvet.com/

www.pittsburghlive.com

This sends a strong message to people who are profiting from illegal labor. Fines can be factored into operatin costs, but nobody wants to go to jail.
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American jobs for American workers

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