Oh yeah, I really believe a word that comes out of the mouths of Walmart employers

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Contractor: Alien Hires Were Legal

By JUSTIN D. ANDERSON

MOUNDSVILLE - A contractor working at the Wal-Mart Supercenter site in Moundsville said his company obtained proper documentation before hiring two Mexican men now suspected of sexually assaulting a woman in their motel room.
"We have paperwork on those boys," said Tony Morton, president of Prime Contracting Inc. of Stanton, Ky. "They can't get hired unless" they have proper documentation.

Morton confirmed that his company hired Franciso Aguilar Salvidar, 29, and Martin Ramos Cuevas, 38, to do ironwork at the Wal-Mart construction site.

Salvidar and Cuevas are currently facing charges of second-degree sexual assault stemming from a Saturday incident in which a local woman claimed the two men assaulted her in their room at the Plaza Motel in the south part of the city. Preliminary hearings for the suspects begin at 3 p.m. Monday. Both remain lodged in the Northern Regional Jail on $25,000 bonds.

Morton said the men, who listed Kentucky addresses with the contracting firm, were hired sometime during the past couple of months and worked on a crew of nine at the Wal-Mart site for about a month until recently.

Prior to their hiring, Morton said each man presented I-9 forms - documents proving legal employment eligibility in the United States - and residential alien cards. When informed that detainers have been placed on the two suspects by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Morton seemed surprised and said the men should have relevant documentation with them to present to authorities.

Morton declined to provide faxed copies of the men's I-9 forms to The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register until he could consult his attorney.

The two suspects, in their financial affidavits seeking court-appointed counsel, reportedly said they were paid a monthly salary of $1,200 in undeclared cash. Morton denied this, saying the men's wages were taxed.

Michael Gilhooly, a spokesman for the ICE Law Enforcement Support Center, on Tuesday would neither confirm nor deny that the federal agency is investigating any particular contractor in this matter.

Mark Small, vice president of Cleveland Construction Inc., the general contractor for the Wal-Mart project, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. On Monday, Small denied any knowledge of illegal aliens working at the site and said the site superintendent reviews all relevant employment documentation for "every body" that works at the site.

An employee at the Plaza Motel on Tuesday refused to disclose how long the three men had stayed in Room 23 or who paid the room rent. The motel manager could not be reached for comment.