Ex-law worker pleads guilty to conspiracy to smuggle immigrants
By Pamela Manson



Updated: 04/12/2010 07:09:37 PM MDT


A former Border Patrol agent pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to smuggle undocumented immigrants into the United States.

U.S. District Judge Dee Benson set a sentencing date of Aug. 16 for Carlos Manuel Vorher, who worked as a paralegal for The Alcala Law Firm in Salt Lake City for three years beginning in 2006. He faces up to five years in prison.

A federal indictment unsealed last year accuses attorney James Alcala, his west-side law firm and seven employees, including Vorher, of helping Utah companies get work visas for ineligible foreign workers. Also named as a defendant is Westside Property Management, a Salt Lake City company that lists Alcala's wife, Janet, as its managing member.

Investigators believe The Alcala Law Firm filed more than 700 petitions that led to the issuance of more than 5,000 work visas -- and that the majority of them were fraudulent -- to companies in Salt Lake, Davis and Utah counties. The defendants are charged with various counts of conspiracy, visa fraud and encouraging or inducing immigrants to reside in the United States illegally.

Vorher, 43, of Salt Lake City, has been free pending resolution of the case.

Another defendant, Andres Lorenzo Acosta Parra, is expected to enter a guilty plea on June 21, according to the court docket. Trial is pending for the others.

pmanson@sltrib.com


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