Undocumented Immigrant Faces Murder Charges; Worked for McHenry Contributors
By Ken H. Fortenberry


Cucul img added by Dixie

Two of Rep. Patrick McHenry’s biggest contributors own a Gastonia company that employed an undocumented immigrant now facing murder charges in South Carolina.

James M. McHenry Jr. (the congressman’s brother) is vice president of Dixie Lawn Service, a company started by the congressman’s now-deceased father.

McHenry Jr. contributed $4,300 to his brother’s campaign last year, and company president Danny Putnam contributed $2,500. McHenry’s sister, Catherine McHenry Rains, is a former comptroller of the company, and is on the McHenry campaign payroll.

One of Dixie Lawn Service’s employees – Maizcelino Sacul Cucul – is now in the Oconee County, S.C. Detention Center charged with stabbing a 33-year-old man in the heart last July.

Cucul, a native of Guatemala and a landscaper for Dixie Lawn Service, was reportedly in the United States illegally.

It is unclear if the congressman himself still owns any of the company, but he does have part ownership of the real estate where Dixie Lawn is located. He is a partner in the McHenry-Putnam Partnership which, according to his financial disclosure forms, owns the building and land.

Rep. McHenry has been an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration.

“It is obvious there is no more defining issue in our nation today than stopping illegal immigration,â€