Thread: Iowa: Guilty Plea in Immigration Case

Iowa: Guilty Plea in Immigration Case


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 27, 2008

A second supervisor arrested after a big immigration raid at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville has pleaded guilty to immigration charges. The man, Martin De La Rosa-Loera, appeared in federal court in Cedar Rapids and pleaded guilty under an agreement with prosecutors to aiding and abetting the harboring of illegal immigrants. He was arrested in July after a raid at the plant two months earlier. Federal officials said Mr. De La Rosa-Loera, 43, assisted others in harboring illegal immigrants “while knowing and recklessly disregarding the fact thatâ€

Second Agriprocessors supervisor pleads guilty
4:58 PM

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A second supervisor arrested after a massive immigration raid at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville has pleaded guilty to immigration charges.

Martin De La Rosa-Loera appeared in federal court on Wednesday in Cedar Rapids and pleaded guilty under an agreement with prosecutors to aiding and abetting the harboring of undocumented immigrants. He was arrested in July following a raid at the kosher meatpacking plant two months earlier.

Federal officials said De La Rosa-Loera, 43, assisted others in harboring illegal immigrants "while knowing and recklessly disregarding the fact that" the workers were in the country illegally.

Officials said that about two weeks before the May 12 raid, De La Rosa-Loera, who supervised four departments, told undocumented workers they could no longer work at the Agriprocessors plant because their Social Security numbers were bad and they needed new documents. Later, he allegedly told the employees they could return to work using the same names they'd previously used, officials said.

He was initially charged with encouraging illegal immigrants to reside in the U.S. and aiding and abetting the possession and use of fraudulent identification.

A sentencing date for De La Rosa-Loera wasn't immediately scheduled. He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Telephone messages left for the attorneys listed in court records as representing De La Rosa-Loera weren't immediately returned.

The U.S. attorneys office said it would have no further comment.

Last week, another supervisor at the plant, 35-year-old Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to hire illegal immigrants and one count of aiding and abetting the hiring of illegal immigrants.

Court documents alleged that over a one-year period Guerrero-Espinoza conspired to hire 10 or more individuals who were in the country illegally.

Guerrero-Espinoza also struck a plea deal with federal prosecutors. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. A date for sentencing wasn't immediately scheduled.

In May, the Agriprocessors plant in Postville was the site of a huge federal immigration raid. Nearly 400 people were arrested.

The company also operates a plant near Gordon, Neb.

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