Men plead guilty to using illegal immigrants for construction

by Associated Press

Published: June 6,2011

Tags: construction, employment, illegal workers, immigrants, jobs, workers

BILOXI — Three men have pleaded guilty to federal charges related to employing illegal immigrants, including some who worked construction jobs at Keesler Air Force base in Biloxi.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 50-year-old Randy Weitzel of Gulfport, 61-year-old Woody Brodtmann Jr. of Bay St. Louis and 44-year-old Agustin Arcadia of Vancleave entered the guilty pleas last Friday.

Prosecutors say the illegal immigrants the men employed had allegedly worked on projects at the courthouse in Gulfport where Weitzel, Brodtmann and Arcadia pleaded guilty.

Sentencing was set for Sept. 1.

Weitzel and Brodtmann were indicted in 2009 for knowingly hiring and harboring illegal immigrants, including some who worked for Artisan Textures at Keesler as far back as 2003.

Arcadia was indicted after immigration officials raided J&A Construction in Vancleave in November 2010.

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