Illegal worker arrested for identity theft
Arrest part of sheriff's illegal-hires crackdown
Craig Harris
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 18, 2008 12:00 AM

A dairy worker, who authorities say spent the past six years working at a Laveen farm under a fake name, was arrested Thursday as part of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's crackdown on illegal workers.

The Sheriff's Office has made at least eight arrests this year since a new employer-sanctions law regarding illegal workers went into effect. However, no Maricopa County employers have been cited.

"We don't have enough evidence to hold any employers responsible yet," Arpaio said. "But we have cases in the hopper. We want to do the right thing. I am very pro-business." advertisement




The Legal Arizona Workers Act, which went into effect Jan. 1, gives the state authority to suspend or revoke the business license of any employer found to have knowingly or intentionally hired an illegal immigrant.

Barnett Lotstein, special assistant to Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, said no civil cases against employers have been filed in Maricopa County. The state's 15 county attorneys have the power to enforce the law but said previously that they had no intention of bringing enforcement actions until after March 1.

"Mr. Thomas has said it would take some time. It's not a quick process," Lotstein said.

Arpaio said all of the this year's arrests, including Thursday's at Jerome LaSalvia Dairy in the southwest Valley, involved illegal workers from Mexico. And Capt. Ray Jones said all of the cases involve identity theft.

Jose Luis Cordova Perez, 28, was taken into custody while milking a cow Thursday and was taken to a county jail on suspicion of forgery.

The arrest brought disappointment and shock from dairy owner Jerome LaSalvia.

"He was one of my good employees," LaSalvia said. "He was part of the economy. It's hard to find someone to work on the farm.... This man had been with me for six years. It really caught me off guard."

LaSalvia said the worker went by the name of Jason Raper, and that "someone else has received his Social Security and tax credit" for years.

Jones said the identity-theft victim contacted the employee-sanctions tip line at the County Attorney's Office in March, and the case was referred to the Sheriff's Office in early April.

Arpaio has taken heat from Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and legislative leaders over his aggressive enforcement of illegal workers. But Arpaio says he has no intention of backing down.

Julie Pace, an employment and immigration lawyer, said local police agencies have been dealing with identify-theft issues for the past two years. But the Sheriff's Office has "jumped into the fray" and businesses are very concerned, she added.

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