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Date Posted: 05:41:49 01/08/08 Tue
Author: rewhblcain (good)
Subject: Re: Company busted for iring illegals
In reply to: JMR 's message, "Company busted for iring illegals" on 07:16:25 01/07/08 Mon

> >href="http://www.statesma">http://www.statesma
>n.com/news/ content/news/ stories/local/
>01/07/0107sting. html
>
>
>Phony ID scheme busted in undercover operation, feds
>say
>Government documents say Pilgrim's Pride knowingly
>hired illegal immigrants.
>
>By Anabelle Garay
>ASSOCIATED PRESS
>Monday, January 07, 2008
>DALLAS — For years, federal agents had received tips
>alleging that undocumented immigrants were working at
>plants owned by Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the nation's
>largest chicken producer.
>In the spring, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
>agents in Dallas acted on leads that pointed toward
>two of the company's seven East Texas plants.
>According to federal court records, undercover agents
>posing as illegal immigrants infiltrated a network of
>job-seekers who paid hundreds of dollars for
>fraudulent identification while those responsible for
>hiring them looked the other way.
>By the time the investigation wrapped up in December,
>agents had arrested 24 people, including:
>A Pilgrim's Pride employee accused of dealing
>identification documents.
>A human resources employee at the company's Mount
>Pleasant facility.
>Two men who were part of the scheme to get
>identification documents for illegal immigrants,
>agents say. Twenty other workers at Pilgrim's Pride
>plants in Mount Pleasant and Pittsburg were accused of
>using Social Security numbers not issued to them.
>The matter is expected to go to a federal grand jury
>this month. Newly unsealed court documents that lay
>out the government's case offer a glimpse into what
>prosecutors say is a complicit circle of illegal
>workers, document dealers and trusted employees.
>It's the latest effort by the government to pursue
>illegal immigrant workers and the employers who hire
>them. Federal agents arrested more than 1,200 workers
>at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants nationwide in 2006
>as part of a similar investigation.
>In the Pilgrim's case, an affidavit by Special Agent
>George Ramirez revealed that the agency has received
>more than 75 calls since 2005 about illegal immigrant
>workers at the company's plants. Fourteen human
>resources employees were suspected of knowingly hiring
>undocumented immigrants, Ramirez stated.
>Ray Atkinson, a spokesman for the Pittsburg-based
>company, said Pilgrim's Pride is not facing charges
>and is cooperating fully. The company has about 55,000
>employees and operates dozens of facilities, mostly
>across the South and in Mexico and Puerto Rico.
>"Our company is very concerned about any allegations
>of this type," Atkinson said.
>In a statement, Pilgrim's Pride added that its
>employees are trained to spot fraudulent documents,
>verify Social Security numbers and make sure
>applicants are eligible to work in the U.S. The
>company said the system isn't foolproof.
>"The HR employee who was taken into custody has been
>terminated from employment," Atkinson said in a
>statement.
>According to Ramirez's affidavit, undercover federal
>agents penetrated the Pilgrim's ring by claiming to be
>undocumented workers eager to purchase papers needed
>to land "good" jobs at the chicken plants.
>Among the accused are Marcos Garcia and Daniel
>"Chilango" Totosaus-Rodriguez. According to the
>affidavit, the pair sold doctored documents to a
>confidential informant to get a job at Pilgrim's Mount
>Pleasant site. If convicted, they could face up to 15
>years in prison.
>The affidavit said that the two men guaranteed their
>wares, promising to replace the documents at no extra
>charge if Pilgrim's discovered a Social Security
>number to be invalid. They also told agents that
>employees in Pilgrim's human resources office wouldn't
>question the applicants because "everyone knows what's
>going on," the affidavit said.
>Garcia met the informant in April, the affidavit said,
>and offered help him get a job at Pilgrim's for $800:
>$600 for the documents and a $200 "finder's fee" for
>himself. Attorneys for Garcia and Totosaus-Rodriguez
>didn't immediately return calls for comment.
>Federal officials said the scheme caused hardships for
>some whose identities were stolen. One of the true
>holders of a Social Security number received a notice
>from the Internal Revenue Service asking for back
>taxes on wages he purportedly earned. And an Illinois
>nursing home resident nearly lost his disability
>benefits because it appeared he was employed
GOOD BYE SUCKAS

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