Posted on: Friday, 8 June 2007, 09:00 CDT

Grounds Workers at Lehigh Arrested: Employees of School Contractor Accused of Being Illegal Immigrants.

By Chris Pollock, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.

Jun. 8--A sting this week by Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli's office caught seven illegal immigrants working for a Lehigh University contractor using either fake permanent resident alien cards or fake or stolen Social Security numbers, authorities said.

The seven, all men living in Bethlehem, were employees of a Bethlehem branch office of national landscaping company the Brickman Group.

Robert Miklich, a detective with the district attorney's office, said one of the men was from Uruguay and the six others were from Mexico.

Miklich said four of the men were arrested with the help of the Lehigh University Police Department when they showed up for work Wednesday morning on Lehigh's Goodman Campus. Three fled on foot and were arrested later Wednesday.

According to court documents, the men were part of a group of 14 employees working for the Bethlehem branch of the Brickman Group who submitted false documents when Brickman hired them. Miklich could not say what initiated the investigation, but said the seven arrested men were the only ones of the 14 still in the area.

In an e-mail response to questions, Lehigh University spokeswoman Sarah Cooke said Brickman employees were responsible for performing groundskeeping duties. The university has no input into who Brickman hires, Cooke wrote, and has contracted with the company for at least 25 years.

Those arrested were identified by cross-checking the documents on file with the Brickman Group's regional office in Langhorne, Bucks County, with that of Bethlehem's tax office, the Social Security Administration, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

According to the arrest affidavits, the records check found some of the men used Social Security numbers that belonged to someone else, some used numbers that didn't exist, and some used fake permanent resident alien cards as identification.

Miklich said after the local courts have handled the charges filed by his office, the fate of the arrested men will be up to ICE.

The following were arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Diane Repyneck of Lower Saucon Township:

Miguel Chamorro, 23, of 715 Broadway, charged with identity theft and tampering with public records; bail set at $40,000.

Gregorio Espejel, 51, of 311 E. Fourth St., charged with identity theft and tampering with public records; bail set at $25,000.

Miguel Farfan, 21, of 606 Hayes St., charged with tampering with public records; bail set at $25,000.

Gabriel Godoy, 39, of 733 E. Fourth St., charged with tampering with public records; bail set at $25,000.

Cruz Montero, 24, of 452 Carlton Ave., charged with tampering with public records; bail set at $30,000.

Niceforo Peralta, 23, of 1007 Mechanic St., charged with tampering with public records; bail set at $25,000.

Servando Perez, 30, of 701 Atlantic St., charged with identity theft and tampering with public records; bail set at $25,000.

None of the men posted bail and all were sent to Northampton County Prison.

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Source: The Morning Call, Allentown, Pennsylvania

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