2 accused of helping immigrants get fake IDs

By AMY LORENTZEN | Associated Press Writer
1:03 PM CDT, September 10, 2008

DES MOINES, Iowa - Two workers at an embattled kosher slaughterhouse facing Immigration charges are accused of helping workers obtain and submit false documents.

Laura Althouse, 38, of Postville, and Karina Freund, 29, of Fayette, were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Tuesday at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville. Both work in the company's human resources department.

They are the most recent employees at the northeastern Iowa plant to face Immigration charges. They were arrested on the same day that the state attorney general charged the company's owner and four top managers with more than 9,000 misdemeanors each, alleging child labor law violations.

In the federal case, Althouse was charged with aiding and abetting document fraud, aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to harbor undocumented immigrants. Freund was charged with aiding and abetting undocumented immigrants.

The women appeared in federal court in Cedar Rapids hours after their arrest. A judge ordered Freund to be temporarily detained as the court set up electronic monitoring for her release. They were both ordered to surrender passports if they have them and not to obtain new passports.

Federal Immigration agents raided the Agriprocessors plant on May 12, arresting 389 people in what officials said was one of the largest single-site Immigration busts in U.S. history.

During the raid, agents reportedly found more than 90 fraudulent resident alien cards in the plant's human resources office.

According to a federal affidavit, 33 of the 96 cards were seized from Althouse's office. Most of those cards had alien registration numbers that were assigned to other people.

It says that the day before the raid, Althouse assisted employees in completing new applications with new names and using fraudulently obtained documents even though she knew some of the applicants had already been working at the plant.

She also reportedly told Immigration officials that she believed some workers were fired and rehired because the company knew federal agents were preparing a raid somewhere in Iowa, court records said.

According to an affidavit in Freund's case, sources testified that she helped them obtain fraudulent documents.

In one instance, a source claimed Freund gave the person a telephone number to call to get a fraudulent Social Security card so that they could be hired at the plant. In another, a person testified that Freund charged them $200 for fraudulent documents and took their photograph for a fraudulent resident alien card.

If convicted, Althouse faces a maximum sentences of up to 22 years in prison and a $225,000 fine. Freund faces a maximum sentenced of up to 5 years in prison and $250,000 fine.

Both women were scheduled to appear in federal court on Sept. 24 for a preliminary hearing.

The charges against Althouse and Freund and state child labor charges follow earlier federal charges against two of the plant's meatpacking supervisors -- Martin De La Rosa-Loera and Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza.

De La Rosa-Loera pleaded guilty under an agreement with prosecutors to aiding and abetting the harboring of undocumented immigrants. Guerrero-Espinoza pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to hire illegal immigrants and one count of aiding and abetting the hiring of illegal immigrants.

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