http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007 ... 007/252387

Men charged with harboring illegals
Two men are charged with conspiracy to hire illegal immigrants for Quantico work.
Date published: 1/19/2007

Two men are accused of a conspiracy involving the harboring and hiring of illegal immigrants for construction work at the Quantico Marine Corps Base.

Richard Eversole, 58, and Jacob Bocanegra, 36, are each charged with conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alexandria announced yesterday. Eversole was arrested yesterday, and authorities were still looking for Bocanegra.

Eversole, a U.S. citizen, owned a concrete company that listed a business address in Dumfries. A bank account connected to the business showed more than $15 million in deposits, according to federal court documents.

Bocanegra is a Mexican citizen illegally in the U.S., according to a news release. He was a supervisor in Eversole's company, according to federal documents.

The pair hired illegal aliens to work on a construction project at Quantico, the news release states. They're also accused of leasing apartments for the illegal workers and transporting them around. Federal documents indicate that the workers were paid in cash.

Juan Martinez, a 24-year-old who worked for Eversole, was also arrested yesterday. Authorities say he was previously deported from the U.S. to Mexico in 2004 after trying to enter Quantico to work for Eversole. Martinez is charged with unlawful reentry into the U.S.

According to the news release, Eversole and Martinez were both arrested yesterday at a Dumfries apartment complex. Two others were arrested there on immigration document fraud charges. Fourteen undocumented aliens were also arrested--three at the Quantico base, three in Fredericksburg and eight in Dumfries.

Investigators do not believe that any of the arrestees had sought or gained access to sensitive information on the Quantico base.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Marine Corps Criminal Investigations Division and Prince William County Police Department conducted the investigation.