Federal prosecutors on Tuesday accused Salt Lake City attorney James Alcala and seven of his law firm employees of falsifying paperwork to help Utah employers get work visas for undocumented immigrants.

Among those named in a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday along with Alcala are former Border Patrol agent Carlos Manuel Vorher and Andres Lorenzo Acosta Parra, a former visa assistant at the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

All are charged with various counts of conspiracy, visa fraud and encouraging or inducing undocumented aliens to reside in the United States illegally.

The indictment claims The Alcala Law Firm and its employees helped 10 companies in Salt Lake, Davis and Utah counties hire ineligible foreign workers. The companies -- which may not have known they were getting bad legal advice -- included landscaping, construction, painting, roofing, steel and property-maintenance businesses.

The alleged conspiracy involved the H-2B visa program, under which employers petition immigration authorities for permits that allow foreign nationals to work temporarily in the United States, if they can demonstrate a need for these workers. Employers must demonstrate there are not enough U.S. citizens who are willing and qualified to fill vacant positions.

There is a limit of 66,000 H-2B visas issued each year, allowing unskilled laborers to stay a maximum of 10 months.

The conspiracy operated from July 2005 to June 2009, the indictment alleges. Authorites say they believe the conspiracy involved as many as 5,000 visas -- the majority of which were fraudulent.

Named as defendants are:

» Carlos Enrique Gomez-Alvarez, an in-house counsel for the firm. He is in federal custody.

» Carlos Manuel Vorher, a firm paralegal and former U.S. Border Patrol Agent

» Andres Lorenzo Acosta Parra, a firm employee who had worked as a visa assistant at the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, from April 1, 1998, to October 24, 2007

» Daniel Trigo Villavicencio, in-house counsel for the firm

» Gustavo Ballesteros-Munoz, accountant for the firm

» Florentino Jose Ayala Villarreal, a firm employee

» Olga Adriana Garza Muniz, a firm employee

» Westside Property Management, which lists Alcala's wife, Janet, as its managing member.

pmanson@sltrib.com

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12930521