Thread: KY: Rentals prompt federal charges

Posted on Fri, Mar. 07, 2008
Rentals prompt federal charges
TENANTS SAID TO BE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

By Valarie Honeycutt Spears

A father and son who own two large Lexington apartment complexes have been ordered to appear in U.S. District Court Friday to answer charges that they rented to at least 60 illegal immigrants and hired two without documentation to work for them.

A 32-count federal indictment charges William Jerry Hadden and Jamey Hadden with harboring illegal immigrants from 2000 to November 2007 at the Woodridge Apartments and Cross Keys Apartments. Both complexes are located off Versailles Road in an area heavily populated with Hispanic immigrants.

Most, if not all, of the 60 tenants named in the indictment are facing deportation, and several of them have been charged criminally with illegally entering the United States, said Lexington immigration attorney Rachel A. Newton.

Advocates for immigrants said they fear the case could have a "chilling effect" on other landlords, leaving immigrants with few options for places to live. The case is the "local manifestation of a national policy shift" on the part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to target landlords, employers, and other people who knowingly harbor illegal immigrants, according to Newton.

Chicago-based ICE spokesperson Gail Montenegro confirmed the agency's focus on those who harbor illegal immigrants, saying, "It's a priority."

The Haddens hired two men who they knew were illegal aliens to work at their apartment buildings, according to the indictment. Those men, whose identities are not revealed in the indictment, are cooperating with prosecutors, says the indictment, which was filed Feb. 29.

One man worked as an apartment manager, the indictment says, and the other worked in maintenance but helped with leasing apartments.

The indictment alleges that once the Haddens began renting to illegal immigrants, they changed their rental policies and quit requiring credit checks, proof of identification and Social Security numbers.

Previously, tenants not having documentation were rejected, the indictment alleges.

Also, the indictment says that the Haddens circumvented a Kentucky Utilities policy of requiring customers to provide Social Security numbers. The Haddens would have all the bills sent to the apartment building office and then distribute the bills to individual tenants, the indictment says.

"I've never heard of local landlords being held accountable when the people they rented to were illegal aliens," said Tucker Richardson, a Lexington attorney representing William Jerry Hadden.

"We are going to aggressively defend it," Richardson said.

The indictment says that Jamey Hadden, at one point, resided overseas. Jamey Hadden's current location was unclear Thursday.

The Haddens face up to 30 years in prison, up to $750,000 in fines, and the forfeiture of the two apartment buildings.

Woodridge Apartments on Alexandria Drive has 85 units, and Cross Keys Apartments on Cross Keys Road has 80, according to the indictment. The indictment also charges the Haddens with money laundering in connection with receiving rents.

Other landlords and employers have been prosecuted in the Eastern District of Kentucky for harboring illegal immigrants recently, said U.S. Assistant Attorney Dave Marye. But Marye said Thursday that this is the first case he's aware of in the past few years of Lexington landlords being prosecuted.

Richardson said the Haddens were not arrested, but received a summons to appear in U.S. District Court Friday for an arraignment.

Immigration Attorney Wally Ahmad, Newton's law partner, said he thinks the indictment is intended to send a warning to anyone who employs or rents to illegal aliens.

"It would appear to me," said Ahmad, "that if they can indict one landlord, other landlords will be afraid of doing it."

Ron Wagoner, who described himself as a friend of Jerry Hadden, said that ICE was selectively enforcing immigration rules.

"It's not like he's the kingpin," a major employer of illegal aliens in Lexington, said Wagoner.

"They would have more impact if they went after people in the equine industry, the restaurant industry, and the landscape and construction industries. Everyone knows there are probably illegals working there."

http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/339638.html

Advocates for immigrants said they fear the case could have a "chilling effect" on other landlords, leaving immigrants with few options for places to live.

That's EXACTLY the point, they're not supposed to live anywhere in the US, they're illegally here!

This should wake them up. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW TO HARBOUR IA, IN THIS COUNTRY. GOOD JOB ICE!!! These people knew they were wrong or why could each renter get their own utilities turned on PRESSURE ON THE EMPLOYERS, AND PRESSURE ON THE LANDLORDS NOW This just made my day