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Thursday, July 27, 2006
Illegal immigrant stays in plea deal

By Paul A. Long
Post staff reporter


Juan Acosta-Martinez snuck into the United States illegally, and he's worked in Northern Kentucky using a forged resident card.

As of today, though, the Mexican citizen is under a federal judge's order to remain in Greater Cincinnati, and he's allowed to work through a temporary arrangement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Those provisions were part of a plea deal Wednesday with federal authorities, in which Acosta-Martinez agreed both to admit his crimes and help the government in its investigation into the use of illegal immigrant workers in the Northern Kentucky home-building industry.

Acosta-Martinez is among the first people convicted of and sentenced for a felony - having a forged resident card - in the two-year investigation that has centered on Fisher Homes and contractor Robert Pratt. The investigation peaked in May when ICE agents raided three Fisher Homes job sites in Boone County and arrested some 80 people.

The vast majority of those were illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central American counties. But more than 20 people - including Pratt and four supervisors from Fisher Homes - have been charged with felonies, ranging from possessing counterfeit identification cards to harboring illegal immigrants to money laundering.

Pratt is the key link, federal authorities say, between the illegal workers and Fisher Homes. Already, people who worked with him or for him - including his daughter - have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with federal prosecutors in the case against him.

But whether the case will eventually reach further into Fisher Homes is unclear. The company has denied wrongdoing, and one lawyer, Tim Schneider, declined comment Wednesday.

So far, almost all of those charged with being in the United States illegally have pleaded guilty, been sentenced to time served and are subject to deportation hearings. Some remain in jail as material witnesses in the cases against Pratt and others, although many have been released from jail under the same agreement as Acosta-Martinez.

Acosta-Martinez also pleaded guilty to being in the U.S. illegally, a misdemeanor.

During Wednesday's hearing, his attorney, Jim West, told Bunning his client is a good, hard-working man who only wants to support his families. He lives with his fiancée in Park Hills, and helps provide for her children.

He also sends money back to Mexico to care for elderly parents, West said. "Mr. Acosta-Martinez has acknowledged the wrongness of his actions," West said. But he has no criminal record, and he's cooperating with authorities, West said.

Bunning agreed, saying the 78 days Acosta-Martinez spent in jail since his May arrest served the needs of justice.

While he will be able to work, he cannot work for Fisher Homes, Pratt, or any of Pratt's companies. Acosta-Martinez also faces deportation.