Two Companies Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Provide Illegal Workers

Two temporary labor companies, the president of these companies and two of their corporate officers pled guilty to conspiring to provide hundreds of undocumented employees to work for a national air cargo firm in Wilmington, Ohio, confirmed US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of four integrated divisions with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

Entering pleas in a federal district court in Ohio were: Garcia Labor Company, Inc, a temporary labor service company incorporated in Morristown, Tennessee; Garcia Labor Company of Ohio, Inc, a temporary labor service company based in Wilmington, Ohio; Maximino Garcia, 43, president and co-owner of the two companies; Dominga McCarroll, 53, sister of Garcia and former vice president of the two companies; and Gina Luciano, 40, director of human relations for Garcia Labor Company in Tennessee.

Background. Since about 1993, Maximino Garcia has owned Garcia Labor Company, Inc, a labor leasing firm located in Morristown, Tennessee. Beginning in December 1999, Garcia Labor Company, Inc contracted with ABX Air, Inc, a cargo transportation company which operates an airline providing package sorting, handling and line-haul services in Wilmington, Ohio. Garcia Labor Company, Inc, and later, Garcia Labor Company of Ohio, Inc contracted to provide temporary workers to ABX Air, Inc to sort freight for the company's transportation operations at the Wilmington Air Park from 1999 until January 2005.

The workforce of temporary laborers assigned to ABX Air, Inc was almost entirely made up of Hispanic workers of Mexican origin who, for the most part, did not read, write, or speak English. Until at least mid-2003, applicants filled out I-9 forms, which were pre-printed to list two specific forms of identification: a Resident Alien card and a Social Security card.

The companies and the individuals pleading guilty had an understanding that as long as the applicants presented passable identification cards, they would be hired, despite facts which would lead a reasonable person to conclude that such workers were not legally present in the United States or authorized to work here. The Social Security Administration issued a number of notices in 2002, 2003 and 2004 in which hundreds of Hispanic workers employed by Garcia Labor were listed as using invalid Social Security numbers. Despite such notices, Garcia Labor continued to employ these workers and took no substantive action to determine whether they were authorized to work in the United States.

Beginning in February 2004, ABX Air, Inc began requiring Garcia Labor Company of Ohio, Inc to provide five years of employment background information on each of its workers assigned to sort freight at ABX Air, Inc Garcia Labor Company of Ohio, Inc's office manager assisted the Hispanic workers in supplying the requested information on its application forms to ABX Air, Inc, and representatives of Garcia Labor Company of Ohio, Inc recklessly disregarded that such information was false or incorrect. On many of these applications, in response to the question (in Spanish) "Are you eligible to work in the United States?" the Garcia worker answered "No," or crossed out "No" and wrote "Si," or provided no answer at all.

In addition, Garcia Labor took steps to provide transportation and housing, and assistance with check cashing for the Hispanic workers, the majority of whom had no drivers' licenses and lacked valid identification to cash their paychecks.

In January 2005, the Transportation Security Administration, which has jurisdiction over the administration and operation of airports in the United States, conducted a regulatory compliance inspection of ABX Air, Inc and the Wilmington Air Park. As a result of that inspection, ABX Air, Inc's contract with Garcia Labor Company of Ohio, Inc was terminated after it was determined that virtually every one of its 400 workers was using an invalid or fraudulent Social Security account number. Cooperation in the investigation was provided by Clinton County Sheriff's Office, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Labor, as well as Assistant US Attorney Anne Porter, who prosecuted the case.

Guilty pleas. All three individuals pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to induce, aid and abet undocumented workers to reside or remain in the United States for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain. Gregory G. Lockhart, US Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Julie L. Meyers, William Cotter, Special Agent in Charge, US Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, Chicago Region and Gordon S. Heddell, Inspector General, US Department of Labor announced the pleas, which were entered before Senior US District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel. The maximum penalty for the crime for each individual is ten years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. The companies face a maximum punishment of five years probation and fines of $500,000 or twice the gain they received from the crime. Judge Spiegel will determine the actual sentence. There is no agreement as to what the sentence will be and a sentencing date has not been scheduled at this time. Maximino Garcia's plea agreement also calls for him to forfeit $12,000,000, which represents the proceeds of the crime and the property used to commit the crime.

Reprinted with permission. © CCH

Two temporary labor companies, the president of these companies and two of their corporate officers pled guilty to conspiring to provide hundreds of undocumented employees to work for a national air cargo firm in Wilmington, Ohio, confirmed US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).