Laurel immigration sentence still pending
One of the largest workplace raids in nation's history
Tim Doherty • Hattiesburg American • May 30, 2010

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HATTIESBURG — Jose Humberto Gonzalez, former human resources director at Howard Industries Inc. in Laurel, was arrested in May 2009 on a 25-count indictment for his role in the hiring of hundreds of illegal immigrants.



The indictments followed one of largest workplace raids in the nation's history in August 2008, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained 595 illegal immigrants at Howard's electrical transformer plant.
Several workers were convicted of identity theft. Hundreds were deported.
Gonzalez, the only company official charged, pleaded guilty in December 2009 to one count of conspiracy, admitting that he had hired immigrants, regardless of their legal status.
Free on $25,000 bond, Gonzalez, 45, had been scheduled for sentencing March 31 before Judge Keith Starrett in U.S. District Court in Hattiesburg.
But the sentencing was postponed, and has yet to be rescheduled.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Southern District Court said a new sentencing date had not been set, and had no timetable for when that might take place.
Gonzalez faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and could be fined up to $250,000.


http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20 ... ll-pending