Thread: Poultry plant employee convicted of recruiting, harboring il

Poultry plant employee convicted of recruiting, harboring illegal immigrant
By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com

A federal jury has convicted a Monett woman who was involved in hiring employees at a poultry-processing plant in Butterfield of inducing an illegal immigrant to enter the United States and harboring an illegal immigrant.

Dora Ruiz, 33, was found guilty Tuesday at the end of a two-day trial in U.S. District Court in Springfield on two counts contained in a federal indictment handed up Oct. 16. Ruiz faces the possibility of up to 10 years in prison for the convictions.

It was the first trial conviction obtained by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Missouri related to a probe conducted in May 2007 at George’s Processing Inc. in Barry County. Another former George’s Processing employee, Sinthia Valdez-Ramirez, 23, pleaded guilty earlier this month to aiding and abetting others in committing aggravated identity theft.

Both women formerly worked in the plant’s human-resources department and were involved in hiring employees.

“These convictions mark an important development in our continued commitment to pursuing employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens,â€

It would be interesting to know the women's title, in the HR Dept. Were they merely assistants or co-ordinators for the HR Mgr. ? What of the HR Mgr., does he/she get a free ride ?

Very few people have been given serious jail time. Judges hesitate to hand down sentences of more than 9 months. They usually ask for a heavy fine and perhaps some type of probation, after a very short jail sentence (if any). I suspect these women weren't owners or managers and don't have the resources to pay a heavy fine.

I hope to see judges start giveing serious jail time to business owners and managers. The white collar people that enable these crimes to occurr. I'm not holding my breath, just waiting.

Please keep us posted on the final outcome of this trial. Thanks for your post.

Indictments: George's managers intentionally hired illegal immigrants
by Melissa Yeager, KY3 News
YouNewsTVâ„¢
Story Published: Oct 17, 2007 at 1:28 PM CST

Story Updated: Oct 17, 2007 at 2:55 PM CST

By Gene Hartley

SPRINGFIELD -- A federal grand jury believes seven managers at George's Processing plant in Barry County intentionally hired illegal immigrants and worked to keep them in the United States. The charges stem from an investigation that followed a raid at the plant near Butterfield on May 22.

At a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri John Wood and his staff said the investigation continues. They wouldn't answer questions about whether other company managers or the poultry processing company itself could face charges.

The seven managers are in a variety of supervisory positions, including in the Human Resources department. They are all in positions involved with the hiring and employment process at George's.

The seven people face charges of harboring illegal immigrants for commercial advantage or private financial gain, aiding and abetting others to encourage illegal immigrants to enter or stay in the United States, and aiding and abetting identity theft so employees could pretend to be U.S. citizens. For convictions, the first two charges could carry prison sentences up to 10 years. The third charge could carry a prison sentence up to two years. The penalties could also include fines.

The indicted people areGuadalupe Castroof Verona, Brad Vansandt of Monett, Dora Ruizof Monett, Jody Salinas of Cassville, Billy Essleyof Cassville, Gary Creedof Washburn, andHilda Gomez, address unknown. The grand jury returned the indictments on Tuesday. Federal prosecutors made them public after all seven were arrested.

The raid in May resulted in the detention of 136 employees of George's.Federal officials said Wednesday that 30 of those have been returned to their home countries -- Mexico and Guatemala. Another 28 are charged with identity theft and immigration law violations, and 21 have pleaded guilty to those charges.

PAST REPORTS

Four ex-George's workers plead guilty for immigration crimes 10/3/07
Housing illegal immigrants boosts sheriff's budget 7/9/07
Eleven more George's workers face immigration charges 5/31/07
Raid at George's leads to charges against six more workers 5/25/07
Illegal worker says she couldn't afford legal immigration 5/23/07
Poultry plant employees face charges 5/23/07
Feds find 100+ possible illegal immigrants at chicken plant 5/22/07

http://www.ky3.com/news/local/10608927.html