Thread: Miss. Company Pleads Guilty in Immigration Raid

I.C.E. News Release

February 25, 2011
Gulfport, MS

Howard Industries pleads guilty to employment-related immigration conspiracy

GULFPORT, Miss. - Howard Industries, Inc., one of the largest employers in Mississippi, pled guilty in federal court Thursday to knowingly violating the federal criminal conspiracy law in its employment of illegal aliens at the company's electrical transformer plant in Laurel, Miss., following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Howard Industries entered its guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett in federal district court in Hattiesburg, Miss. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney John Dowdy, Southern District of Mississippi and Raymond R. Parmer, Jr., special agent in charge of ICE HSI in New Orleans.

The Howard Industries transformer manufacturing plant was the subject of an enforcement action by ICE HSI special agents on Aug. 25, 2008, that resulted in the administrative arrest of nearly 600 unlawful aliens working at the plant. In pleading guilty, the corporation admitted there was a conspiracy to encourage and induce illegal aliens to reside in the United States, even though the corporation knew or recklessly disregarded the fact that these illegal aliens lived here in violation of the law. The conspiracy also involved Howard Industries' concealing, harboring, and shielding from detection illegal aliens, knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that such illegal aliens had come to, entered, or remained here in the United States in violation of law.

Howard Industries waived indictment, pled guilty to felony charges, and agreed to pay a criminal fine in the amount of $2.5 million, an amount the corporation acknowledged is in excess of the fine amount ordinarily provided by statute for the single count of conviction. Under the federal conspiracy statute, a corporation is ordinarily subject to a term of not less than one and not more than five years of probation and a $500,000 fine.

Previously, the company's human resources manager, Jose Humberto Gonzalez, pled guilty to a similar federal criminal conspiracy charge relating to the employment of unlawful aliens at the electrical transformer plant.

"ICE HSI aggressively targets egregious employers who knowingly and recklessly employ an illegal alien workforce," said Raymond R. Parmer, Jr., special agent in charge of ICE HSI in New Orleans. "This case serves as a stern warning about the consequences for employers who take jobs away from legal workers and gain an unfair economic advantage over their competitors. ICE HSI will investigate and pursue criminal charges against such employers and corporations."

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gaines Cleveland and Mike Hurst are the prosecutors in charge of the case.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov . To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423.

U.S. Dept of Homeland Security

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1102/1 ... lfport.htm

"Yeah! Okay!"

Originally Posted by Oldglory

"Gonzalez is the only company executive who has been charged in the case. He pleaded guilty in December 2009 to conspiracy and admitted that he hired hundreds of people who he knew were in the country illegally".

Gonzalez? Go figure! Birds of a feather stick together.

You notice that too...............kind of like the Hispanic Caucus

Originally Posted by stevetheroofer

"Excuse me! but how does this sound to you guys, these big companies are in trouble for employing illegal aliens, here now stay with me on this!"

We lobby these companies for operational funding, to show good faith that they are sorry and wish to comply with Federal Law! By helping us, they are actually helping them selves on many levels, instead of boycotting them for they're wrong doing, we patronize their business and hold they're competition accountable to the same operating standards and such! (insert college degree here) Cause they probably won't be donating to la raza this week!

Contact info. for Howard Inds:
Phone601) 425-3151
Fax601) 649-3151
http://www.howard-ind.com/HowardTransfo ... tactUs.asp

Contact info. for Tyson Foods:
Phone: 1-800-643-8090
e-mail: MediaSponsorshipRequest@tyson.com

Contact info. for Chipolte's Mexican Grill
http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/fan-antic ... to_us.aspx

"What Say You!"

"Not exactly what I was looking for!"

Mississippi Manufacturer Agrees to Pay Record $2.5 million fine for Immigration and I-9 Violations

by Wendy Padilla-Madden on February 25, 2011

[Editor's Note: today's blog is courtesy of Wendy Padilla-Madden from Balch & Bingham LLP.]

Howard Industries, a privately held manufacturer of electrical transmission and distribution equipment, pled guilty yesterday to conspiracy to violate immigration laws for actions discovered during an August 2008 immigration raid on the company’s transformer plant in Laurel, Mississippi. The company also agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine (largest ever in the state of Mississippi), which is roughly 5 times the original base amount, for the actions of one human resources manager. Clearly, there was some wrong-doing here, but what exactly did the company do (or fail to do) to earn such a dubious distinction within the state of Mississippi? Let’s take a trip down memory lane.

The Nation’s Largest Workplace Immigration Raid

On August 25, 2008, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in consultation with the US Attorneys’ office raided the company’s manufacturing plant in Laurel, Mississippi and arrested 595 workers who were believed to be undocumented. Approximately 475 of these workers were sent to a detention center and most of them were later deported (few were convicted on identity theft charges). Meanwhile, the company repeatedly denied allegations that it had knowingly hired individuals without work authorization, putting all of the blame on its human resources manager, Jose Humberto Gonzalez, who was later charged in a 25-count indictment with conspiracy and employee verification fraud.

The Rogue HR Manager?

According to court documents, Gonzalez would routinely hire unauthorized workers who presented false identity documents, including alien registration receipt cards and Social Security cards, and complete the I-9 with the bogus information. Gonzalez was also accused of submitting SSNs to the Social Security Administration to verify their numbers and then disregarding the results if they came back as invalid. To prove a conspiracy, the government also established that he regularly instructed employees to obtain alternative identity documents which he knew falsely represented their true identities and assured Spanish-speaking workers at the plant that he would warn them in the event of a raid. Gonzalez pled guilty in December 2009 to conspiracy and admitted that he hired hundreds of people who he knew were not authorized to work. He faces a maximum of 5 years of imprisonment on the conspiracy charge and on each employee verification fraud count. He also faces a minimum of 2 years of imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft charge and possible fine up to $250,000.

Company Can’t Escape Liability

Since April 2009, ICE has made it abundantly clear that employers, including their officers and executives, face criminal exposure for I-9 compliance failures, particularly those involving unauthorized workers. In the case of Howard Industries, Thursday’s complaint explicitly notes that the company is “legally responsible for the actions of [the HR manager] as his employer.â€

Howard Industries ex-employee faces March sentence
Feb 25, 2011 7:10pm

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — A sentencing date has been set for a former Howard Industries Inc. employee convicted in a conspiracy case to violate immigration laws related to the nation's largest workplace raid on illegal immigrants.

Jose Humberto Gonzalez, Howard Industries' former human resources manager, will be sentenced at 9 a.m. March 3 in federal district court in Hattiesburg.

The sentencing date was set Friday, after being rescheduled at least three times since his December 2009 guilty plea. Gonzalez faces up to five years in prison. Howard Industries' lawyer, Frank Trapp, has said that Gonzalez was the only company executive who knew the nearly 600 workers at their operations in Jones County were illegal.

On Thursday, the company pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate immigration laws and agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine.

___

Information from: The Hattiesburg American, http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com

http://www.necn.com/02/25/11/Howard-Ind ... 6a74ae12a0

RELATED

Original raid stories

Hundreds of Workers Held in Immigration Raid

http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1190174.html

Here are Links to original stories posted on ALIPAC Following the Howard Industries ICE Raid in August, 2008

ICE raids plant in Laurel, Mississippi
Story Posted August 25, 2008
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-129384.html

Howard Industries responds to ICE raid
Story Posted August 25, 2008
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-129456.html

MISS-Residents lined up for jobs at Howard Industries
Story Posted Aubust 26, 2008
http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-129566-days ... asc-0.html

MS: Howard's contracts at stake
Story Posted August 27, 2008
http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-757064.html

Businesses Cite a Catch-22 After Miss. Immigration Raid
Story Posted August 28, 2008
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-129776.html

ICE raids plant in Laurel, Mississippi
Story Posted August 29, 2008
http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-129384-days ... c-225.html

Immigrant raid divides a Mississippi town
Story Posted August 31, 2008
http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-130103-next.html

Activists push for amnesty in MS raid
Story Posted September 28, 2008
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-133486.html

Good job James!

RELATED

Nearly 600 detained in Mississippi immigration raid

http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1190174.html