Man Jailed For Transporting Illegal Immigrants

POSTED: 6:36 pm CDT August 23, 2007
UPDATED: 7:54 pm CDT August 23, 2007

JACKSON, Miss. -- A Leake County man is in federal prison for charging illegal immigrants for transportation -- the first such case from the U.S. attorney's office in Mississippi.

Henry Atkinson is serving a 19-month sentence in Memphis after pleading guilty to transporting illegal immigrants to get state-issued identification.

Leake County Sheriff Greg Waggoner said in recent years the county has seen a large increase in illegal immigrant workers.

"They have been overwhelmed with the problems. It's just not a lot INS has been able to do," he said.

The U.S. attorney's office said highway patrol officers noticed Atkinson dropping off groups of Hispanics at the Woodrow Wilson License Division in Jackson. They contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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